Anchor
by CaptainMjolnir
Summary: Olivia is a semi-orphaned teenager with werewolf relatives and a serious case of RBF. There's no way she's surviving high school without a few scratches.
1. Lycanthropy

**FOREWORD**

Beacon Hills had always been a town full of supernatural beings. Wendigos, banshees, druids, and—of course—werewolves were just some of the creatures that lived among the humans. Unfortunately, being supernatural came at a cost. Because of their nature, many people were tortured and killed by supernatural hunters.

The Hale family, the largest pack of werewolves within city limits, fell prey to a family of hunters in the year 2005. The alpha, Talia, was killed, along with the majority of the pack, in a large house fire that decimated the mansion they lived in. There were only five members of the Hale pack that survived.

Olivia Martin was one of them.

**FOREWORD**

**[1x01; Wolf Moon]**

Olivia shuffled around in her closet, trying to find the perfect scarf that went along with her outfit. Today was the first day back to school after winter break and, according to Lydia, they had to look better than any of the other girls that went to their school. Personally, Olivia didn't see the big deal in trying to stay at the top of the social food chain at Beacon High, but she definitely didn't want to upset her cousin. So, she quickly grabbed a plaid scarf and walked out of her closet, setting it on her bed to put on after she styled her hair.

She had already curled her brunette locks into waves and was wrapping the scarf around her neck when Lydia walked into her room, hardly bothering to knock on the door.

"You're going with the green puffer vest?" Lydia asked, disapproval heavy in her voice.

Olivia fluffed her curls so they laid nicely against her vest. "I like it."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Normally it would be fine, but it's the first day back, Liv," she sighed. "How are you going to keep your spot on top if you're wearing something so simple?"

"Frankly, Lyds, I couldn't care less about the people we hang out with, except for Danny and Jackson," Olivia confessed, slinging her leather satchel over her shoulders while making sure she had everything she needed for a day at school. She turned her cobalt-blue eyes to her cousin. "And I know you don't, either."

"I'm not dignifying that with a response," Lydia huffed, whipping around to leave Olivia's bedroom. "Let's go."

By the time they were both sliding into Lydia's Beetle, their little argument was over.

"What classes are you taking this semester?" Olivia asked as Lydia pulled out of their driveway and started toward the high school.

"The usual," Lydia shrugged. "Unfortunately, Mandarin was full, so I settled with Latin."

Olivia knew her cousin was a genius but she wondered if Lydia ever got exhausted trying to learn as much as she could. Olivia did—she usually grew tired of school around the end of each semester—but Lydia kept going and going. It made sense, though, Lydia loved to be smarter than everyone around her.

"What about you?"

Olivia cleared her throat, suddenly self-conscious about the classes she was taking. "I got into Calculus," she said quietly. "World History II, Chem…Advanced Spanish."

"Advanced Spanish?" Lydia looked away from the road for a brief second to make sure she heard Olivia right. "I thought you only had to do two classes for Spanish. Why didn't you choose a different language?"

"I don't know," Olivia shrugged.

The truth was, Olivia simply wanted to keep taking Spanish classes. When her cousins, Derek and Laura, checked in on her over winter break, they mentioned that their family was fluent in Spanish. Olivia wasn't quite at that level yet and she wanted to make that side of her family proud, even if most of them were dead. She had a duty to the Hale name, even if she didn't use it.

Lydia hummed at Olivia's response, looking like she didn't quite approve. "You should take Latin next year, then."

Olivia stared out her window, mentally praising the fact that they had arrived at school. She loved Lydia but she acted like an overbearing mother sometimes. "Sure."

Lydia parked in the empty spot that no one dared to leave their car, and the both exited the vehicle. After checking her phone, Lydia turned to Olivia, "Jackson and Danny are already in the building."

"Let's go then."

Stiles paced impatiently, his feet moving his body back-and-forth over two squares of sidewalk in front of the school, as he waited for Scott. His best friend has sent him a concerning message when he woke up, and Stiles was eager to see the injury Scott had sustained.

The night before, Stiles' dad, Sheriff Noah Stilinski, had gotten a call and—of course—Stiles overheard what it was about. He was eager for an adventure and half a dead body in the preserve seemed like something that was worthwhile. Needing his partner in crime, Stiles retrieved Scott from his house and they both set out to the preserve.

All was going well until they came upon police officers and their cadaver dogs. While Scott hid, Stiles was caught by his father and forced to go home, leaving Scott all by himself. According to Scott's message, he was almost trampled by a herd of deer and bitten by some kind of animal.

Now, Scott was taking forever to get to school and Stiles was feeling guilty and a little excited.

Finally, Stiles saw Scott ride his bike through the parking lot to the bike rack. After confronting the school's biggest jackass—Jackson Whittemore—Scott made his way over to Stiles.

"Finally!" Stiles exclaimed, waving his hands in exasperation. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Scott shrugged lightly. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Stiles."

"Okay," Stiles quickly moved on, bouncing. "Let's see this thing."

Scott sighed quietly and shrugged his backpack off his shoulders, lifting his gray t-shirt up to show Stiles the piece of gauze he messily taped to his side. Stiles raised his eyebrows and cooed, reaching out to touch the bandage.

Scott hissed and slapped his hand away.

"Okay, okay," Stiles went back to clutching the straps of his backpack while Scott pulled his shirt back down. "So, what bit you?"

Scott shrugged his backpack on and started walking up the sidewalk to school. "It was too dark to see much but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf."

Stiles raised his eyebrows in disbelief and followed him. "A wolf bit you?"

Scott nodded.

Shaking his head, Stiles shot down Scott's claim, "No, not a chance."

"I heard a wolf howling."

There was no way Scott was bitten by a wolf because Stiles knew there were no wolves living in Beacon Hills—or California, for that matter. He knew way too much about the ecosystems of their home state thanks to the AP Environmental Science he took the year before.

"No, you didn't," Stiles insisted.

"What do you mean, no I didn't?" Scott asked, becoming frustrated. "How do you know what I heard?"

Stiles scoffed and abruptly turned around, stopping Scott in his tracks. "Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years."

Scott was surprised. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" Stiles confirmed. "There are no wolves in California."

"All right," Scott shook his head, still maintaining that it was a wolf that bit him. He didn't care what Stiles said. "Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf then you're definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you I found the body."

Stiles flailed spastically, his shoulders shrugging sharply as he reached out to grab Scott's shoulders. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked excitedly.

"No, man, I wish. I'm gonna have nightmares for a month," Scott shuddered, not wanting to think about the gruesome sight he witnessed the night before.

Stiles laughed in disbelief. "Oh, God, that is so fucking awesome!" he cheered. "I mean this is seriously gonna be the best thing that's happened to this town since—"

He trailed off, his attention being pulled by the two girls walking up the sidewalk to head into school, chatting quietly together.

"—since the birth of Olivia Martin!" he declared as the girl of his dreams walked past him with her cousin at her side. "Hey, Olivia, you look…like you're gonna ignore me."

Stiles swore that it may have been the luckiest day of his life because, as she passed him, Olivia sent him a small smile before giving her attention back to Lydia.

"Oh, my God," he breathed, almost swooning, as he watched Olivia walk into the school. He turned back to Scott, who was just as shocked. "Did that just happen?"

"Yeah, Olivia Martin just smiled at you," Scott grinned as the first bell of the morning went off.

Stiles jumped happily, ignoring the annoyed looks of the students around him. "This is the best day ever."

Scott chuckled and rolled his eyes as he and Stiles went with the herd of students, walking into school. They separated to go to their lockers and then met back up to head to their shared AP English class that Scott somehow tested into.

As they walked into Mr. Thomas' classroom, Stiles stopped in his tracks, making Scott bump into his back. There, in the aisle closest to the wall of windows, was Olivia Martin.

Seeing that there was only one more seat left in the aisle and it was right behind Olivia, Stiles rushed to the seat, almost pushing another guy out of the way. He almost knocked the desk over as he slid into the seat but he righted himself, chuckling nervously when Scott rolled his eyes at him.

He could have pinched himself, though, because seconds after he sat down, Scott sat in the empty seat right next to Olivia.

_At least I'm close to her_, he thought to himself.

"As you all know," Mr. Thomas spoke from the front of the classroom, a dry-erase marker held firmly in his hand as he wrote on the board. "there indeed was a body found in the woods last night."

Scott turned to look at Stiles with raised eyebrows; Stiles winked at him, chuckling under his breath.

"And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened," Mr. Thomas continued. "but I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody—"

Stiles shook his head at Scott's curious look. As far as he was aware—and he was—his dad hadn't brought in a suspect.

"—which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk," Mr. Thomas capped his marker and turned around, picking up a pack of papers that had previously been laying on his desk. "outlining this semester."

Most of the students groaned in contempt but obediently set to read their syllabus to see what their teacher had in store to them.

Out of the corner of Stiles' eye, he saw Scott frantically looking around the room but he ignored him for the moment, reaching up to tap Olivia on her vest-covered shoulder.

Olivia turned around and Stiles paused, forgetting what he was going to ask her, when his whiskey-colored eyes met her cobalt-blue ones.

Olivia raised an impatient eyebrow, prompting Stiles to speak.

"Oh, um, do you have a pen I can borrow?" he asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly.

A ladies man, he was not.

Olivia's eyes swept his face, her lips quirking slightly, and fell on his desk where a black pen was already waiting to be used.

"R-Right," Stiles could have punched himself. He was such an idiot. "It doesn't work anymore. That's—that's why I'm asking you for a pen. Yeah."

Olivia hummed, amusement lighting up her face, and turned around, reaching for her satchel on the floor. She pulled out a blue pen and faced Stiles again, holding it out for him.

"There you go," she said kindly. "You can keep it."

"Oh, are you sure?" Stiles was kind of hoping she wanted it back so he could talk to her again. "I mean, I can give it back."

"No, it's fine," she assured him. "Let's hope this one works for you."

Stiles chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, hopefully. Thanks, Olivia."

"No problem, Stiles."

As Olivia turned back around to read the rest of her syllabus, Stiles stared at the back of her head in shock. Olivia Martin knew his name? Olivia Martin knew who he was?

_Like I said, _he thought_, best day ever. _

Stiles shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused back on his syllabus just as the classroom door opened. The vice-principal walked into the room, a girl his age following him.

"Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent," the vice-principal gestured to the girl who smiled shyly. "Please do your best to make her feel welcome."

Allison walked to the side of the classroom where Stiles, Scott, and Olivia were sitting, taking the last empty seat behind Scott. Stiles nodded at her in greeting and watched as Scott handed her a pen with a smitten look on his face.

"Thanks," Allison whispered with a smile.

Scott grinned and caught the eye of Stiles, rolling his eyes as his best friend gave him a thumb's up.

Mr. Thomas cleared his throat. "We'll begin with Kafka's Metamorphosis on page one hundred and thirty-three."

_**Ollie: **__We need to talk._

Olivia bit her lip as she texted Derek, hoping that he would have time for a phone call. He currently lived in New York but he was a couple hours ahead of her, so she was pretty sure that he was done with work for the day.

She pressed her phone into her pocket, not expecting an answer right away, and focused back on the conversation she was having with Lydia.

"So, you've met the new girl?"

Lydia was talking about Allison Argent, the newest student of Beacon High. Olivia had her English class with Allison but she wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting her. Her last name was Argent, after all.

The Argents were a notorious family that hunted supernatural creatures. Although Olivia wasn't supernatural herself, her father was and that made her a target. Her mother was human, too, and look where she ended up. Killed just because she associated with someone who was a werewolf.

She didn't know if Allison was a hunter like the rest of her family, but if she wasn't and Olivia made friends with her, was it worth the risk? Did she want another target on her back?

"Not yet," Olivia said finally, shaking her head.

Lydia hummed, looking down the hall where Allison was at her locker. "Well, I like her outfit. Let's go talk to her."

Olivia wanted to object but she knew that Lydia would talk to Allison anyway. She followed her cousin down the hall, knowing that she'd meet Allison sooner or later—especially if Lydia was so determined to talk to her.

"That jacket is absolutely killer," Lydia announced their presence to Allison, who was looking down the hallway. Olivia followed her gaze, seeing that the new girl was staring in the direction of Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. "where'd you get it?"

"Thanks," Allison smiled shyly. "My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco."

"And you are our new best friend," Lydia declared, pointing slyly at her. "I'm Lydia and this is my cousin, Liv."

Olivia wanted to grimace and scold Lydia for putting Allison's attention on her, but she kept her face smooth and clear of emotion. She wasn't one to put her emotions on her sleeve—other than her happiness—and if Allison was a hunter, she wanted to show no weaknesses.

"Hey," she greeted Allison politely. "We have English together."

Allison's face lit up in realization and when she smiled, her dimples popped out. "Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you."

Olivia nodded. "You too."

Allison seemed sweet enough but there was no way that Olivia was going to let her guard down.

Jackson Whittemore, Lydia's boyfriend and Olivia's friend, came up to them then, pulling Lydia into a sloppy kiss. They were a big fan of PDA but to Olivia, their make-out sessions were nauseating.

Allison must have agreed; she grimaced and awkwardly looked away.

"I want to say you'll get used to it, but…" Olivia shrugged, giving Allison a sympathetic look.

Allison blanched. "Oh."

Eventually Lydia and Jackson tore themselves away from each other and Lydia took that time to obsess over Allison's outfit again. While the redhead was observing the taller brunette's bracelet, Olivia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

_**Derek**__: I'm in town. When can you meet?_

Olivia raised her eyebrows, shocked. She hadn't known that Derek was back in town so soon after his visit. She wished that he had said something.

_**Ollie**__: Now. School's over. Pick me up?_

_**Derek**__: I'll be there in five_

Olivia sent him back a thumb's up emoji just as Lydia mentioned Jackson's party to Allison.

"So, this weekend, there's a party."

"A party?" Allison asked timidly.

Olivia could relate to Allison's hesitation. She hated parties, especially ones thrown at their house where she couldn't get away from the crowd of drunk teenagers.

"Yeah, it's on Friday night," Jackson confirmed. "You should come."

"Uh, I can't," Allison shook her head apologetically. "It's family night this Friday. Thanks for asking, though."

"Are you sure?" Jackson prodded. "Everyone's going after the scrimmage."

"You mean like football?"

"I wish," Olivia joked, playfully grinning at the annoyed look Jackson sent her. "Unfortunately, the football team's a joke. The sport here is lacrosse."

"We've won the state championship for the past three years," Jackson boasted.

"Thanks to a certain team captain," Lydia spoke up, grinning lovingly at her boyfriend.

Jackson smiled back at her before looking at Allison. "Well, we have practice in a few minutes. If you don't have anything to do, maybe you can come."

"Well, I was going to—"

"Perfect!" Lydia interrupted her brightly. "You're coming."

Reluctantly, Allison followed Olivia, Lydia, and Jackson down the hallway.

As they passed her locker, Olivia spoke up, "I'm gonna miss practice today," she told her cousin. "I'm meeting up with Derek."

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "He's still in town?"

"Apparently," Olivia shrugged. She patted Jackson on the shoulder and gave Allison a small smile. "Have a good practice, Jackson. It was nice to meet you, Allison."

Allison smiled and waved at her while Jackson nodded. Olivia split off from the group and went to her locker, taking out her satchel and draping it around her shoulders.

Once she walked out to the parking lot, she was relieved to see Derek's black Camaro parked where she could see it. She jogged over to the car and slid into the passenger seat.

"Why are you still in town?" she asked Derek as he pulled out of the parking lot, not even bothering to greet him.

Derek sighed heavily. "I did go back," he told her. "But Laura stayed behind for a couple of days. She never came back."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, worried and confused. "So, she's missing?"

"She was."

"What does that mean? Did you find her?"

Derek pursed his lips sadly and looked over at Olivia. "Laura's dead."

Olivia stared blankly at the body in front of her, her eyes stinging from the need to cry. She had already shed tears on the way to the old Hale house where Derek had stashed Laura's body and she felt like she was being weak if she cried any more. She hated crying, especially in front of someone. Sure, Derek was her cousin but they were alike when it came to showing emotional weakness.

Laura's body was cut in half, sliced cleanly down the middle. Her brown hair was matted against her dirty back, sticky with blood and debris. Her blue eyes were fogged over, cloudy with death.

It made Olivia sick to her stomach, especially when she realized that Laura was the body that Mr. Thomas and the rest of the town were talking about.

"Did the Argents do this?"

The Argent family was famous for cutting a werewolf's body in half. Usually, though, the Argents didn't bother supernatural creatures unless they were harming humans. Laura was a gentle soul, she believed in preserving the relationship between the supernatural and the humans that lived in Beacon Hills.

"Maybe," Derek exhaled deeply, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he looked down at his sister. "But if they did kill her, I'd be the alpha."

Olivia looked over at her cousin, watching as his eyes flashed their usual icy-blue, not the deep red of an alpha.

"So, another werewolf killed her," Olivia concluded.

Derek nodded. "I found something near her," he pulled something from his pocket, handing it over to Olivia. "Do you recognize the name?"

Olivia glared down at the inhaler in her hand, reading the dirty label. The name of Scott McCall was printed in black ink, along with an expiration date and some instructions.

_What the hell was Scott McCall doing by Laura's body?_

"Yeah, I recognize it," Olivia confirmed, handing the inhaler back to Derek. "I go to school with Scott," she sighed deeply. "What are we gonna do, Der?"

"We're gonna bury her," Derek's lips trembled before falling into a scowl. "And then I'm gonna catch whoever did this."

Olivia nodded, knowing that Derek was justified in doing whatever he needed to do to avenge Laura.

It didn't take long to bury Laura's body, though Derek did have to stop a couple of times to maintain his composure. Olivia kept him company, holding his hand tightly through his grief, trying to silently show him that she was there for him.

Once Derek flattened out the soil on Laura's grave, Olivia took the wolfsbane rope that Derek prepared to ward off any werewolves around and laid it down into a spiral, the Hale family's sign for vengeance. She attached it nicely to a wolfsbane plant and buried a few feet away from where Laura was.

The two of them stood silently over Laura's grave, mourning their cousin and sister.

"I don't—I don't know what it was," Scott admitted as he and Stiles balanced on a large tree over the creek that trailed through the preserve, jumping onto solid ground. "It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball."

Scott was referring to lacrosse tryouts where he was put in the goal by Coach Finstock. Though he had been practicing since the end of last season, Scott hardly ever spent time in the goal. Coach didn't care, though.

Surprisingly, Scott pulled it off. He caught every ball—other than the first one, which hit him in the head—even Jackson's. His playing amazed everyone, including himself.

"And that's not the only weird thing," Scott continued, his eyes on the ground in search of his missing inhaler. "I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear. I can smell things…"

"Smell things?" Stiles spoke up, skeptical. "Like what?"

Scott turned to him, both of them walking. "Like the spearmint gum in your pocket."

Stiles cocked an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks, digging his hand into his jacket. "I don't even have any spearmint—" he paused as he pulled out a stick of gum and looked at Scott, amazed. Scott shrugged in a I-told-you-so way.

The boys continued walking.

"So," Stiles said thoughtfully. "All this started with a bite?"

"What if it's like an infection?" Scott asked worriedly. "Like my body's flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?"

Stiles grinned sneakily, seeing an opening for a prank. He wasn't sure that Scott knew what lycanthropy was but with him spouting about how a wolf bit him and his newfound abilities, it was the perfect joke.

"You know what, I actually think I've heard of this," he said, catching Scott's attention. "It's a specific kind of infection."

Scott stopped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded, putting his hands on his hips. "Yeah, I think it's called lycanthropy."

Scott's eyes widened. "What's that? Is that bad?"

Stiles couldn't believe his luck. "Oh, yeah, it's the worst," he tried to keep the amusement from his voice. "But only once a month."

"Once a month?"

Stiles hummed in confirmation. "On the night of the full moon."

He tilted his head back and howled, mimicking a wolf. When Scott shook his head in annoyance and pushed him, he broke into snickers.

"Hey," he chuckled. "you're the one who heard a wolf howling."

Scott narrowed his eyes and started walking again. "There could be something seriously wrong with me."

"I know, you're a werewolf!" Stiles exclaimed before fake growling. Scott didn't look amused. "Okay, obviously I'm kidding," he conceded. "But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it's because Friday's a full moon."

Scott shook his head, coming to a stop. "We don't even have a shop class," he sighed, looking around at the familiar area. "I could have sworn this was it. The deer came running, I dropped my inhaler, and then I saw the body."

He crouched down, sifting through the dead leaves by his feet.

"Maybe the killer moved the body," Stiles suggested, looking around.

"If he did, I hope he left my inhaler," Scott joked, looking up at Stiles. "Those things are, like, eighty bucks."

Stiles snickered and looked around again, his heart stuttering in shock when he saw Olivia Martin and some guy standing a few feet away. They came out of nowhere, serious looks on both of their faces.

He slapped Scott's shoulder, getting his attention.

As Scott got to his feet, the guy stalked forward. Olivia stood in place, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing here?" the guy asked crossly.

Stiles rubbed his buzzcut, feeling awkward.

"Huh?" the guy prodded when they didn't answer. "This is private property."

"Uh, sorry, man, we didn't know," Stiles apologized, looking between him and Olivia.

They were close to the old Hale house so that probably explained why Olivia was out here. But if Olivia was with this guy so close to the dilapidated mansion, he figured that the guy was one of the other survivors of the fire. Stiles guessed that he was her cousin, Derek Hale.

"Yeah," Scott added to Stiles' excuse. "we were just looking for something, but forget—"

Derek Hale cut off Scott, pulling his hand out of his leather jacket and throwing whatever he had at Scott. Scott caught it without much thought, looking down at his inhaler in shock.

Stiles glanced from the inhaler back at Olivia and Derek, only to find that they were gone.

"Uh," Scott shook his head and slipped his inhaler into his pocket, looking at Stiles. "All right, come on. I gotta get to work."

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. "Dude, that was Derek Hale. You remember what happened, right?"

"That was Olivia's cousin?"

"Yeah, he's only a few years older than us," Stiles confirmed.

"What happened?" Scott asked, not remembering the tragic deaths of the Hale family and many others.

"His family, Olivia's mom...they all burned to death in a fire six years ago," Stiles informed him.

"I wonder what he's doing back."

Stiles shook his head, shrugging. "Probably visiting Olivia," he took his keys out of his pocket, twirling them around his index finger. "Come on."

The rest of the week passed quickly and Stiles was going out of his mind. Scott continued to act weirdly; he outperformed everyone at lacrosse tryouts, he winced every time the school bell rang, and the morning before the party, he slept walked into the woods.

Stiles had already started researching what could possibly be wrong with his best friend but when his dad got a call from the lab where the dead body was sent and they discovered that there was wolf hair on the body, he was mystified.

_Was his joke from the other day not a joke? Could Scott possibly be a werewolf?_

Stiles didn't know how to approach the topic with Scott but when he flipped over a couple players on the lacrosse field and still scored a goal, Stiles knew he needed to confront his best friend.

He spent the rest of the afternoon researching anything that involved werewolves. There was a bunch on nonsense from Twilight and The Vampire Diaries but eventually he found some promising websites that gave him helpful information. He printed off numerous pages of articles, ranging from the effects of silver and wolfsbane to the first Lycan folklore.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the screen of his MacBook, reading through the last paragraph of the article about supernatural hunters. He jumped in shock and closed his computer when there were rapid knocks on his closed door.

Scott was here.

He jumped out of his desk chair and opened the door, relieved to see Scott on the other side.

"Get in," he ushered his best friend into his room, speaking rapidly. "You gotta see this. I've been researching all afternoon. I found a bunch of information."

Scott grinned at him, recognizing his jerky movements and quick words. "How much Adderall have you had today?"

"A lot," Stiles admitted, sitting at his desk and grabbing some of the papers he printed. "Doesn't matter, okay? Just listen."

"Oh, is this about the body?" Scott asked, throwing his backpack on Stiles' bed and taking a seat next to it. "Did they find out who did it?"

"No, they're still questioning people, even Derek Hale," Stiles said, turning his chair to face him.

"Oh, Olivia's cousin?" Scott's face lit up in recognition. "Maybe that's why she's been grumpy all week."

Stiles shrugged, remembering the frown and passive glare that had been on Olivia's face the past few days. "I don't know," he shook his head. "But that's not it, okay?"

"What then?"

"Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore," Stiles said seriously. As Scott shook his head, confused, he pursed his lips. "The wolf, the bite in the woods? I started doing all this research—"

He flipped the papers in his hands, searching for the information on the howl of a wolf, and stood up. "Do you even know why a wolf howls?"

Scott stared at him, wondering where Stiles was going with this. "Should I?"

"It's a signal," Stiles regurgitated the information from the papers he was holding. "When a wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So, if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby."

Scott straightened in alarm. "A whole pack of wolves?"

"No," Stiles corrected him. "Werewolves."

Tension practically fizzled in the air as Scott gave Stiles an annoyed look and stood up from the bed.

"Are you seriously wasting my time with this?" he scoffed, narrowing his eyes as he picked up his backpack so he could leave. "You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour."

Stiles stepped in front of him. "I saw you on the field today, Scott. What you did wasn't just amazing, all right? It was impossible."

"Yeah, so I made a good shot," Scott shrugged, trying to get past Stiles.

Stiles stopped him again, taking the backpack from his hands and throwing it back onto the bed. "No, you made an incredible shot. I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes? People can't just suddenly do that overnight."

Scott sighed and bowed his head.

"And there's the vision and the senses," Stiles continued, his voice growing louder. "and don't even think I don't notice that you don't need your inhaler anymore!"

"Okay!" Scott interrupted, fed up. "Dude, I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! What, no!" Stiles exclaimed, becoming panicked. "The full moon's tonight. Don't you get it?"

Scott's chest puffed up as he grew irritated with his best friend. "What are you trying to do?" he asked Stiles harshly. "I just made first line, I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?"

Stiles shook his head and sat in his chair. "I'm trying to help," he reminded Scott. "You're cursed, Scott. The moon won't just cause you to physically change, okay? It also just happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak."

Scott gritted his teeth. "Bloodlust?"

"Yeah, your urge to kill."

"I'm already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles," Scott sneered, glaring at him.

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath and turned to his desk, picking up another printed article. "You gotta hear this. '_The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse._' All right?" he finished reading and looked back at Scott. "I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does."

Stiles stood up and walked purposely toward Scott's backpack. "You gotta cancel this date," he proclaimed, digging through Scott's bag for his cell phone. "I'm gonna call her right now."

Scott sighed heavily. "What are you doing?"

Stiles found the phone and stood up, preparing to message Allison. "I'm cancelling your date."

"No, give it to me!" Scott yelled, grabbing Stiles' arm and forcefully pushing him into the wall by his desk.

He raised his fist, preparing to punch Stiles as his best friend squirmed, waiting for the blow. Scott's fist shook severely as he turned away and shouted with rage, pushing away Stiles' chair.

Stiles looked at Scott with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened. As Scott calmed down, he saw Stiles' face, growing ashamed at the fear there.

He shuffled away from Stiles, grabbing his backpack. "I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely, stepping toward the door. He looked back at Stiles once more, remorseful at the way his best friend stared at him. "I-I gotta go get ready for that party. I'm sorry."

Stiles didn't speak as Scott left the room. When his door shut firmly, he sighed heavily and knocked his head against his wall in frustration.

He was aggravated that Scott got violent with him, but if Scott was really a werewolf, then he had to get over his irritation. Scott could hurt someone and if he was still going to Lydia's party, Stiles had to be there in case something bad happened.

He huffed and bent down, picking up his chair that Scott had tossed away. Seeing the large scratches in the fake leather, he froze.

This was going to be a bad night.

Olivia leaned against the wall just inside her living room, her eyes warily searching the crowd of teenagers that were drinking cheap beer and dancing to the techno music that Danny provided. She was on the lookout for Scott McCall, hoping that he wasn't going to show up.

When Derek told her that Scott was bitten and now a werewolf, she was shocked. She couldn't believe that Scott—who was basically a nobody with really bad asthma—was going to turn into a raging monster on the nights of the full moon.

And the full moon was tonight, which was why she was actually participating in the party. Scott had asked Allison to go to the party with him and if he actually showed up, Olivia had to make sure he wouldn't hurt anyone when the moon reached its peak.

She was just grateful that Derek was there, somewhere among her partying schoolmates. Really, he'd be the only one who could stop Scott from acting out.

Olivia perked up when she saw Stiles Stilinski walk into the living room, his eyes searching the crowd much like she had been doing.

_If anyone knew Scott, _she thought_, it'd be Stiles. _

Olivia placed her red cup of soda on a nearby table and made her way over to Stiles, trying not to bump into anyone's full cup.

"Stiles, right?" she asked him, loud enough to be heard over the music pumping through the many speakers around the house and backyard.

She knew his name, of course, but she didn't want to intimidate him.

Stiles gaped at her, his whiskey eyes sweeping her up and down, taking in her red dress with cutouts around the waist and brown boots. "Yeah, I'm Stiles. You're Olivia."

"I know," Olivia gave him a weird look. "Can we talk?"

"What?"

"Can we talk?"

"Sure!" Stiles nodded eagerly, a goofy grin—that Olivia had to admit was kind of cute—adorning his face. "Lead the way!"

Olivia took his sweaty hand and pulled him out of the living room, through the hallway, and into her aunt's office, which was off limits to party-goers. The walls weren't exactly soundproof, but they could hear each other way better with the bonus of privacy.

"So, uh, what'd you want to talk about?" Stiles asked, awkwardly rubbing his buzzcut.

"Frankly, I want to talk about Scott," Olivia said bluntly, missing the way Stiles frowned in disappointment.

"Uh, okay, but he's here with Allison and he really likes her, so…"

"No, I don't care about his relationship status," Olivia shook her head, rolling her eyes. "I care about the fact that it's a full moon tonight and he's in a crowd full of people."

Stiles gaped at her. "What, I—?" he shook his head, focusing. "How do you know about…?"

"About the fact that he's a werewolf?" Olivia raised her eyebrows. Stiles nodded; she shrugged. "Derek told me."

"Well, how does Derek know?"

"Because Derek's a werewolf," she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are you fucking serious?" Stiles cursed under his breath. Of course Derek Hale was a fucking werewolf. Why wouldn't he be?

What had he gotten himself into?

"Look, we don't know you or Scott that well, but we want to help," Olivia spoke up after letting Stiles absorb the new information. "Derek has experience with full moons, he can help Scott get through it."

"Are you a werewolf?" Stiles asked, still trying to come to terms with everything.

"No," Olivia shook her head. "My dad was but I'm not."

"Oh," Stiles nodded, scratching the back of his neck, his mind whirling a mile a minute. He paused, giving her a skeptical look. "Why should we trust you?"

"Like I said, Derek knows what Scott's about to go through," Olivia said patiently. "And, honestly, I don't want Scott to rip into anyone out there. It's not really safe for anyone involved."

Stiles nodded slowly; he and Scott didn't exactly need to explicitly trust Derek but if he could help Scott with the full moon, what was the harm? They didn't really have anything to lose at the moment.

"Fine," he agreed, hoping that Scott would too. "We should probably get out there before Scott and Allison show up."

"I'm glad we agree," Olivia smiled at him, opening the door and following him out of the room.

Stiles' heart quickened as Olivia's arm brushed against his as they walked back to the party, a brand-new song starting.

"You want a drink?" Olivia asked him loudly, gesturing toward the drink table.

Stiles nodded. "Sure!"

They hustled to the table and poured their drinks, both of them opting for a non-alcoholic beverage. Afterwards, they walked around, trying to find Scott and Allison. When they found the couple dancing outside, they waited together to see what would happen.

It only took two songs for Scott to start transforming under the influence of the full moon. He stumbled away from Allison and into the house.

Stiles and Olivia approached him cautiously.

"Scott, you good?" Stiles asked him.

"Are you okay?" Olivia added worriedly before looking for a sign of her cousin.

Scott pushed past them, ignoring their questions, and stumbled out of the house, knocking into a couple of people.

Before Olivia and Stiles could follow Scott, Allison ran after him, calling out his name. As Scott ignored Allison, Olivia and Stiles followed her, coming out of the house just in time to see Derek offering Allison a ride.

"What's your cousin doing?" Stiles asked Olivia, frustrated and a little panicked.

Olivia shook her head. "I don't know. You go after Scott, I'll talk to Derek."

Stiles nodded and ran off, finding his jeep and driving away. Meanwhile, Olivia walked up to Allison and Derek.

"Hey," she greeted them, trying to keep her nerves at bay. "Allison, are you leaving?"

"Uh, yeah," Allison gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I'm not feeling well."

"I offered to give her a ride home," Derek spoke up, giving Olivia a pointed look that Allison didn't catch.

Olivia knew what he was doing and she wished he wouldn't. She had already talked to Stiles and got him to trust them. If Stiles agreed to them helping Scott, she was sure that Scott would agree, too. This—what Derek was doing—was just going to piss them off.

However, she knew Derek. He wouldn't back down.

Olivia hesitantly nodded and smiled at Allison. "Well, you'll be safe with Derek. See you at school on Monday?"

Allison nodded with a small smile. "Yeah."

"Feel better, Allison."

Stiles huffed, silently cursing to himself as he continued to drive down the highway just outside of the preserve. He'd been searching for Scott all night and had yet to find him after he ran off to find Derek and Allison.

Of course, Stiles knew Allison was safe at home but he wondered if Scott knew that.

Really, he was pissed. Not at Scott but at Derek and Olivia. Olivia had said that Derek was going to help Scott but instead Scott revealed that Derek was the one to bite Scott and kill the girl in the woods. He was inclined to trust his best friend more than some random guy and the girl he had been crushing on since the second grade.

So, what was Derek and Olivia's plan? And why did Olivia approach him, giving him false promises?

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of Scott up ahead, walking on the side of the road. He was shirtless and clutching his right arm, as though he was injured.

Stiles pulled up and stopped, letting him into the jeep.

"You okay?" he asked, pulling off his blazer to give to Scott to wear.

"Yeah," Scott mumbled, pulling the blazer over him. He leaned his head against his door as Stiles started driving and sighed. "You know what I'm worried about?"

Stiles licked his lips and side-glanced Scott, annoyed. "If you say Allison, I'm gonna punch you in the nuts."

"She probably hates me now," Scott complained, ignoring what Stiles said.

Stiles groaned. "I doubt that," he disagreed. "but you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology…Or, you know, you could just tell her the truth and revel in the fact that you're a fuckin' werewolf!"

Scott looked at him tiredly, eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

"Okay, bad idea," Stiles admitted sheepishly.

Scott sighed and laid his head back on his window.

"Hey, we'll get through this," Stiles comforted Scott, nudging his knee before returning his hand to the steering wheel. "Come on, if I have to, I'll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once, I could do it."

Scott chuckled, cheered up by his best friend's goofiness. "Sure, if it comes to that."

Stiles pumped his fist. "Yes!"


	2. Meddling Boys

**[1x02; Second Chance at First Line]**

"Did Scott apologize yet?" Olivia asked Allison, briefly glancing at the taller girl as she opened her locker.

Allison sighed loudly. "No, not yet," she leaned against the locker next to Olivia's. "But he messaged me last period. I guess he wants to talk."

Olivia hummed. "Maybe you should," she shrugged when Allison gave her a questioning look. "He looked sick when he left the party. He probably didn't want to leave you."

Of course, Olivia knew exactly why Scott left the party so early but she couldn't exactly tell Allison the truth. She was an Argent and just because she was really nice didn't mean she didn't hunt supernatural creatures as a side hobby. If it got out that Scott was a werewolf, he'd most likely be dead the next day.

"I guess," Allison said quietly, looking at her phone when it buzzed. "My dad's here. Can I call you later? To tell you about Scott?"

"Yeah, of course," Olivia nodded with a small smile. "See you tomorrow."

Allison beamed at her and left with a wave, leaving Olivia by herself.

She didn't want to get too close to Allison but she turned out to be a really sweet girl so far. Olivia was making sure that she was guarded when getting to know her, but it didn't mean they couldn't be friends. Plus, Lydia liked Allison, too, and it'd be weird if she didn't hang around them without an explanation.

Olivia focused back on her locker, pulling out her chemistry textbook so she could do the homework that Mr. Harris had assigned her class.

"I know what you're up to!"

Olivia jumped, startled, and turned to Stiles, eyes wide. Stiles stood with his hands on his hips, already dressed in his lacrosse pads and practice jersey, his whiskey eyes narrowed at her.

"You scared me," she scolded him. "What am I up to again?"

All day Stiles and Scott had glared at her during the classes they shared. She had an idea of why there were angry—Derek had told her that he didn't deny biting Scott when he was confronted by the new beta, which was an idiot move—but if they would just let her clear up Derek's shady actions, everything would be fine.

"You and your cousin," Stiles hissed, faltering a little when Olivia's pursed her lips at him. She was just too damn beautiful. "He bit Scott and now he wants Scott to follow him around and do all kinds of stuff."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows and closed her locker so she could face Stiles head on. "Okay, Derek didn't bite Scott."

"Uh-huh, sure," Stiles huffed.

"He didn't," Olivia pressed, growing irritated. "And I'm not planning anything. I just wanted to help, Derek went rogue."

"Rogue?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded. "He was supposed to help Scott, not antagonize him," she shrugged, hoisting her bag on her shoulder. "but Scott made it through all right, right? I mean, Derek helped him get away from the hunters."

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, he sure was helpful."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I think you hate Derek for no reason. He didn't do anything wrong."

"He killed that girl, Olivia!" Stiles protested, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

_Of course she'd protect her family_, he thought.

Olivia stiffened, her lips pressed in a firm line. Stiles was startled to see her blue eyes start to water.

Stiles sighed, mad at himself for making her cry. "Liv—"

"Derek didn't kill anyone," she said lowly, interrupting Stiles.

"Look, I know you want to protect him, but—"

"You don't know anything, Stiles!" she exclaimed, cutting him off again. "You think you do, but you don't!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Olivia angrily turned away from the infuriating boy and stomped down the hallway, disappointed in herself for getting so angry. She wasn't the stoic, calm Olivia that she usually was and it was bugging her.

Still, she couldn't help herself when Stiles mentioned Laura. He didn't know anything. Derek would never in a million years kill his big sister. The only reason that he and Scott thought that was because they didn't think to ask questions. They just assumed.

And that angered her because she and Derek were the ones offering to help Scott out. Sure, Derek went a little off the rails, but Scott nor Allison were hurt.

Her phone buzzed angrily in her pocket; she looked at it, not surprised to see that Derek was calling her.

She sighed and answered the call, "Hello?"

"_Get out to the lacrosse field,"_ Derek said quickly. "_We need to watch Scott."_

"Hello to you, too," Olivia grumbled. "I don't know why I have to watch Scott. You're there, there's no need for me to be."

"_I need you here because I'm a twenty-three-year-old man on a high school campus,"_ Derek hissed. "_I look creepy."_

Despite her bad mood, Olivia giggled. "You always look creepy, Der. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"_Hurry_."

Olivia quickly sent a text to Lydia, telling her that she was getting a ride with Derek, and shoved her phone into her pocket. She made her way over to the practice lacrosse field, not surprised to see that practice had already started.

Jackson was picking up a long stick and getting into position when she reached where Derek was standing next to the bleachers.

"Anything so far?" she asked her cousin, looking out over the players. Her eyes caught the back of Stiles' jersey and she huffed, cursing the fact that she actually thought he looked attractive in his uniform.

"Nope," Derek answered, his leather-covered arms crossed over his chest. "Scott's a little dazed but I don't know why."

As if proving Derek right, Scott ran from the line of players, trying to score a goal, and was immediately tackled by Jackson. Olivia watched carefully as Coach went over to talk some sense into Scott, hoping that his temper wouldn't get out of control.

Scott stalked back to the line as Coach declared that he was having another turn.

"This isn't gonna be good."

"No shit."

Scott sprinted toward Jackson and Olivia winced in sympathy as Scott rammed into him, roughly tackling him to the ground. Jackson let out a loud yelp and rolled around in pain, clutching his shoulder. Scott landed a few feet away, his hands gripping his helmet.

"Should we do something?" Olivia asked anxiously as Stiles ran up to Scott.

"Probably."

Olivia's eyes met Stiles' as he ushered Scott away from the field and she couldn't help but gulp as she saw the panicked look on his face.

"Are you going to help them?" Olivia looked at Derek.

"You go, they trust you more than they trust me."

"But—"

What could she do against a newly-turned werewolf?

"They're heading to the locker room," Derek informed her, using his enhanced hearing. "Get the fire extinguisher. It should distract him."

"Derek—"

"Just go, Ollie," he urged her. "You can do it."

Olivia nodded reluctantly and ran toward the boys' locker room. As she entered the door just off the room, she could hear low growling and panicked yelps. The latter, she assumed, was Stiles.

She peeked into the locker room and was met with the sight of Stiles running away from a fully-transitioned Scott. The spastic boy bumped into numerous lockers as he tried to get away from his best friend, who was on top of the lockers and glaring down at him with golden eyes.

"Stiles!" Olivia called, getting his attention as she grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall.

Stiles jerked his head in her direction. "Olivia, what are you doing?!"

Olivia gestured for him to come her way and, in lieu of other options, he cooperated. Just as he passed her, she sprayed the fire extinguisher, aiming it at Scott, who had followed him over.

While Scott flailed around in the icy foam, Olivia grabbed Stiles' elbow and dragged him into the hallway.

Stiles slumped against the wall and looked up at Olivia, breathing heavily.

"Why did you—what—how—?"

"Well, I wasn't going to leave you to die," Olivia said simply, shrugging lightly. Stiles smiled, flattered, but it fell when she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm still mad at you."

Stiles huffed and got to his feet. "I'm still mad at you."

"Good."

"Fine."

"You should probably check on Scott," Olivia pointed out, annoyed. She shoved the fire extinguisher into his arms. "Take care of that, would you?"

She promptly turned away, her high-heeled ankle boots making a slight clicking sound as she left the school. Heading out to the practice field to see about Jackson, she pulled out her phone and called Lydia to tell her what happened.

Olivia sat next to Lydia in the waiting room of the hospital, both of them waiting for Jackson to be released so they could take him home. His parents, the busy lawyers they were, couldn't be bothered to check him out of the hospital, so it was down to Lydia and Olivia to make sure he got home safely.

In all honesty, Olivia felt sorry for Jackson. He worked really hard to be the best at lacrosse—he was the youngest captain in their school's history because he was a damn good player—and then all of a sudden, Scott shows up, using his enhanced senses and stamina to get onto first line. And, yeah, Jackson can be a dick sometimes, but now his shoulder was fucked up because of Scott.

Which brought on a whole new set of insecurities for Jackson.

Believe it or not, Olivia and Jackson were good friends. He was probably her closest friend other than Lydia and she was one of the only people who could tolerate him besides Lydia and his best friend, Danny. Oliva could understand Jackson—he was adopted, so he felt like he was abandoned by his biological parents and betrayed by his adoptive parents, and he felt like he had to be the best at everything. She could relate. She wasn't adopted but she did live with her aunt and cousin who was talented at everything she tried. Olivia constantly felt like she had to be on top of things to even compete with Lydia.

Lydia sighed anxiously from beside her, her legs bouncing up and down in an unusual show of nerves.

"I can't believe his shoulder is separated," she huffed. She looked at Olivia with wide eyes. "Do you think he'll be able to play?"

"I don't know," Olivia frowned. "Maybe with a cortisone shot…Let's just hope that he'll be okay."

"Yeah," Lydia agreed, her usual bitchy demeanor that she put on for the people at school long gone. At this point, she was just worried about Jackson and how he was going to react to his injury.

Olivia smiled slightly and grabbed Lydia's hand, knowing that this was hard for her. At first, Lydia and Jackson started going out for the popularity but now she could tell that there were real feelings between them.

Lydia squeezed her hand and sent her a grateful smile.

The moment was ruined when Olivia's phone rang. Rolling her eyes, she pulled the phone out of her purse and glared at the caller ID that told her Stiles was calling her.

"What?" she huffed into the phone.

"_Uh, hey, this is Stiles,"_ Stiles squeaked nervously. "_Um, Stiles Stilinski. You know—_"

"Yes, I know who you are, Stiles," Olivia rolled her eyes, though she did find his rambling kind of cute. Kind of. "What did you need? I thought you didn't trust me?"

"_It's not that I don't trust you,"_ Stiles tried to explain. _"I mean, I want to trust you. I just don't trust Derek—"_

"Stiles."

"_Right, okay_," Stiles sighed. "_I was calling to see how Jackson's doing."_

Olivia exhaled heavily, ignoring Lydia's questioning look. "Not good, honestly. His shoulder is separated."

"_Oh. Is he gonna be able to play?"_

"We don't know right now," Olivia admitted.

She looked at Lydia when she felt her prodding her arm, and sat up straight when she saw Jackson being rolled into the waiting room by a nurse. She nodded at Lydia, silently telling her that she'd grab her purse.

"Look, I have to go, Stiles, Jackson's out of the hospital," she told Stiles.

"_All right, thanks for the info. See ya."_

"Bye."

Olivia grabbed Lydia's purse and swung it over her shoulder with her own bag before walking over to Jackson.

"Hey, bud," she patted his head, seeing that he looked pretty high from the painkillers that the doctors gave him. "How are you doing?"

Jackson just huffed, obviously angry.

"Don't antagonize him," Lydia scolded her, helping Jackson stand up from the wheelchair. "Let's get you home."

"So, Scott apologized and…?"

Lydia and Allison looked up at Olivia's question, the three of them sprawled on Olivia's king-sized bed, doing their homework. They all had beauty masks plastered on their faces in preparation for their sleepover and when they finished their homework, they had plans to do manicures.

"And I _was_ going to give him another shot," Allison said, frowning. "But he was acting weird after lunch."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Really?"

What was wrong with Scott now?

"Yeah," Allison nodded. "He was asking all these questions about your cousin driving me home from the party. It was really intense."

"Hmm."

"He was probably jealous," Lydia said matter-of-factly. "I mean, I was introducing you to some of the players on the team. That's what he gets for not playing in the game tomorrow."

Olivia frowned and circled the answer of the last question on her history homework, shutting her textbook. She knew Derek had given Scott pretty strict orders to not play the game tomorrow but Lydia had also given him a stern scolding. When Lydia told her that she threatened to introduce Allison to other players on the team, Olivia figured that Scott was going to do anything to play in the game.

"Maybe," Allison shrugged. "He was just acting weird."

"Well, I think Scott's always been weird," Olivia excused Scott. The least she could do was try to help his relationship with Allison. Even though it was like a Romeo and Juliet kind of thing, she knew Scott and Allison really liked each other.

"Absolutely," Lydia agreed, giggling. "His friend, Miles, or something, came up to me while I was at the hospital with Jackson. He kept rambling about something but I was on the phone with Macy's customer service, so I didn't catch anything he said."

Olivia and Allison chuckled, both of them knowing from experience how weird Stiles could be.

A knock on Olivia's door caught them off guard, causing their giggles to die. Natalie, Lydia's mom and Olivia's aunt, popped her head into the room.

"Girls, Lisa's here to take me to book club," she told Olivia and Lydia with a smile. "If you're going to drink the wine in the fridge, I don't want you going anywhere, you understand?"

"Okay, Aunt Nat," Olivia agreed with a smile, though was wasn't intending on drinking. "Have fun."

"Bye, Mom," Lydia added with a wave.

"Love you girls."

As Natalie shut the door, Allison turned to her friends, shocked. "Your mom lets you drink?"

"As long as we're safe, she doesn't mind," Lydia answered nonchalantly. "I'm sure she did worse when she was a teenager."

Olivia snickered, having heard many of her aunt's wild stories from high school.

"_Wow_."

"Well, I'm done with homework," Lydia declared, shutting her notebook. "Who's ready for manicures?"

Olivia and Allison exchanged grins.

Stiles and Scott watched quietly as Derek Hale stormed out of his fire-ruined house and into his Camaro, pulling away shortly after. They waited another five minutes in case he returned before pulling up to the house.

They were on a mission to uncover the other half of the dead body. Scott, who had visited Derek earlier in the day, had caught the scent of human blood buried in the front yard of the old Hale house and immediately called Stiles. Together, they went to the hospital so Scott could match the scent to the other half of the body located in the morgue. Unfortunately, they matched.

Stiles just felt bad for Olivia. She was so adamant that Derek hadn't killed anyone, yet the evidence was right in his front yard.

Stiles killed the engine of his jeep and he and Scott climbed out, grabbing the shovels from the back. As they walked over to where Scott said the body was buried, Scott stopped in his tracks.

"Wait, something's different," he declared, inhaling deeply through his nose.

"Different how?"

"I don't know," Scott shook his head with a sigh. "Let's just get this over with."

The two of them buried their shovels into the grave and started digging. Luckily, the dirt was still loose from being buried, so it was easier to dig than they expected. They spent a half-hour scooping up dirt and throwing it behind them, trying to find the body.

Stiles tried not to think about the dead girl that was buried where he was digging. He couldn't imagine a family member being murdered, cut in half, and then buried in the yard of a deranged werewolf. Sure, his mom died, but at least he knew what happened to her. This girl's family probably had no idea.

Scott exhaled loudly and wiped his sweaty brow. "This is taking way too long."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Just keep going."

"What if he comes back?"

"Then we get the hell out of here," Stiles answered simply, continuing to dig away at the grave.

"What if he catches us?"

"I have a plan for that."

Scott raised his eyebrows at Stiles, waiting to hear his plan. "Which is?"

"You run one way, I run the other," Stiles replied. "Whoever he catches first, too bad."

Scott huffed. "I hate that plan."

Stiles shook his head and went to bury his shovel in more dirt, only to stop when his shovel came in contact with something firm. "Stop, stop, stop," he ordered Scott, throwing his shovel out of the grave.

They both bent down, using their hands to brush away the rest of the dirt covering the body. They found the body wrapped in a large tarp and tied with several knots of rope that they quickly got to work trying to untie.

"Hurry," Scott urged, scrambling to untie the rope.

"I'm trying!" Stiles snapped. "Did he have to tie the thing in, like, a thousand knots?"

Eventually, they untied the last knot and pulled away the tarp. They screamed when they saw the body, jumping out of the grave entirely.

There, where there was supposed to be the half body of a girl, was a dead wolf.

"What the fuck is that?" Stiles shrieked, pointing at the black wolf.

"It's a wolf," Scott said obviously, peering at it curiously.

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, I can see that," he rolled his eyes. "I thought you said you smelled blood. As in _human_ blood."

Scott shrugged and defended himself, "I told you something was different."

Stiles shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense."

"We gotta get out of here," Scott changed the subject as he looked around, worried that Derek was going to come out of the darkness and murder them too.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "Okay, help me cover this up…" he trailed off as he caught sight of a purple flower a couple of inches away from the grave.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked, noticing his distracted gaze.

"You see that flower?" he pointed to the flower; Scott looked at it.

"What about it?"

"I think it's wolfsbane," Stiles said, shifting onto his knees so he could crawl over to it.

"What's that?"

"Uh, haven't you ever seen _The Wolf Man_?" Stiles asked his best friend. Scott shook his head, looking confused. "Lon Chaney Junior? Claude Rains? The original, classic werewolf movie?"

"No!" Scott exclaimed, exasperated.

Stiles sighed and shook his head. He couldn't believe how unprepared Scott was when it came to his lycanthropy. "You are so unprepared for this."

He crawled toward the flower and pulled it out of the ground, surprised to see that it was attached to a length of rope. He pulled at the rope, letting it lead him around the grave several times. As the rope ran out, Scott called his name.

He looked down and jumped, startled to see that the wolf had turned into a girl. "Holy shit!"

Stiles walked purposely toward the cruiser that one of his dad's deputies' put Derek in. He waved at Scott, who waited by his jeep, and looked around, hoping that all the police officers were busy, before he opened the passenger side door and slipped into the car.

Derek was seated in the backseat, already glaring at him through the metal grate that separated them.

"Okay, just so you know, I'm not afraid of you," Stiles lied, trying to seem tough. He faltered as Derek's glare hardened even more. "Okay, maybe I am," he admitted shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. I just wanna know something. The girl you killed? She was a werewolf but she was a different kind, wasn't she?"

Derek stared straight at Stiles, making him squirm.

"I mean, she could turn herself into an actual wolf and I know Scott can't do that," he continued. "Is that why you killed her?"

"Why are you so worried about me when it's your friend who's the problem?" Derek asked lowly, glancing through the window at Scott. He turned back to Stiles. "When he shifts on the field, what do you think they're gonna do, just keep cheering him on?"

Stiles gulped, realizing that what Derek was saying actually made sense.

"I can't stop him from playing but you and Olivia can," Derek said firmly, leaning forward. "And trust me, you want to."

Before Stiles could even reply or admit that maybe Derek was right, the door opened and he was pulled from the vehicle. His dad dragged him a few feet away from the car and gave him a disappointed look.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Noah demanded as Stiles rotated his arm where he grabbed him.

"I'm just trying to help," Stiles declared.

"Okay, well, how about you help me understand exactly how you came across this."

Stiles sighed loudly. "We were looking for Scott's inhaler."

"Which he dropped when?"

Stiles shrugged. "The other night."

"The other night when you were out here looking for the first half of the body," Noah stated dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes."

"The night that you told me you were alone and Scott was at home."

"Yes," Stiles winced, realizing that he was caught in a lie. "No. Oh crap."

"So, you lied to me."

"That depends on how you define lying," Stiles pointed at his dad.

Noah pursed his lips. "Well, I define it as not telling the truth. How do you define it?"

"Uh, reclining your body in a horizontal position?" Stiles stated, waving his hands horizontally to emphasis his point.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Get the hell out of here, would you?"

Stiles nodded. "Absolutely."

As Stiles walked away from his dad and toward his jeep, he saw Olivia and her aunt talking to a deputy. He gulped when she looked his way, practically shrinking under the heat of her glare.

He didn't like being the subject of Olivia's ire, but he consoled himself. At least she now knew the truth about her cousin being a murderous werewolf.

Olivia was going to kill Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall.

Not only had they gotten Derek arrested, which was a problem all by itself, but they dug up Laura's body. They dug up her dead cousin from her resting place and now the police had it in their custody.

So, now Olivia had to explain to Natalie about how Laura was murdered and that Derek was back in town and she had to see about hiring a lawyer that wasn't her uncle—he didn't particularly like the Hale family—to defend him. She knew that the least he'd be charged with was obstruction of justice and maybe defiling a crime scene but that was way better than going to jail for murder—which he didn't do.

Natalie didn't explicitly know about werewolves but she knew that the Hale family was a lot weirder than the other families that lived in Beacon Hills. She knew and liked Derek, though, so she was happy to help Olivia contact a lawyer on Derek's behalf. Olivia had spent all afternoon, trying to convince Jackson's dad to take his case before Lydia pulled her away for the lacrosse game.

The game was the last thing on her mind and she definitely didn't want to see Stiles and Scott but she knew Derek would want her to be there in case something happened.

So, she bundled up for the game, walking toward the field with Lydia, both of them carrying the large, glittery signs they made for Jackson.

Lydia practically shoved the sign she was carrying at Olivia when she saw Scott. Olivia rolled her eyes and followed her cousin as she marched over to the new werewolf to give him a piece of her mind.

"Olivia, hey," Stiles walked over to her.

"Don't talk to me," she said flatly, looking around for an excuse to walk away.

She didn't hate Stiles but she did have a reason to be mad at him. If he had just listened to her, maybe Derek wouldn't be in jail right now.

"Look, I'm sorry that Derek killed that girl, Livvy, but shouldn't be mad at me."

"One, don't call me that," Olivia stepped toward Stiles, her head tilted so she could look him in the eye. "Two, Derek didn't kill her, okay? I told you that."

Stiles put his hands up defensively. "How can you believe that? He buried her in his front yard."

Olivia shook her head. She didn't know why she was even bothering to try to get him to come to his senses. He obviously wasn't going to listen to what she was saying.

"Whatever, Stiles," she stepped away from him, relieved to see that Lydia was done speaking to Scott.

Lydia grabbed her arm as she approached her. "Let's sit with Allison and her dad," she pointed up the bleachers where the two Argents sat.

"Um, okay," Olivia nodded hesitantly.

Now she had to sit with an Argent hunter? Her day was going so smoothly.

"Lydia, Olivia," Allison beamed at them as they climbed up the bleachers to the row where she and her father were seated. "This is my dad, Chris."

Chris smiled politely at them and even though she was pure human, Olivia couldn't help but shiver in fright. "Nice to meet you girls."

"You too," Lydia shook his hand while Olivia nodded politely. Lydia turned to Olivia, trying to decide which one of them should sit next to Allison. "You should sit in the middle since you're the shortest. Allison and I can hold up the sign above you."

"Sure," Olivia agreed, quickly sitting next to Allison as Lydia settled on her other side. "Excited for your first lacrosse game?" she asked Allison.

Allison grinned. "Definitely."

The whistle was blown and the players of both teams ran onto the field. Jackson faced off with the other team's forward, both of them crouching for the beginning play. The referee blew his whistle and the game began, Jackson scooping up the ball before the other player had a chance.

The ball was thrown between the players like a hot potato, each one of them avoiding Scott's open net, until he finally managed to get it. Unfortunately, he was tackled by Jackson, who ran down the field and scored a goal.

Olivia cheered along with the crowd as the scoreboard changed, Beacon High taking an early lead. On either side of her, Lydia and Allison held up their sign, Olivia cheering Jackson's name to show her support.

The game went on, each team scoring and Scott not getting passed to at all. When the competitor was leading and Coach called for a time out, Chris leaned toward his daughter, Olivia, and Lydia. "Which one is Scott again?"

"Number eleven," Lydia answered tersely. "Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game."

Olivia rolled her eyes at her cousin as Allison mumbled, "I hope he's okay."

"I hope _we're_ okay," Lydia disagreed, not happy with the team's losing score. "We need to win this," she stood up, struggling to raise her sign. "Allison, Olivia, a little help here?"

Olivia and Allison exchanged annoyed looks and stood up, helping raise the sign that praised Jackson.

The crowd cheered as the ball was set up again. When the ref blew his whistle, the ball was scooped up and thrown high into the air. Olivia and the rest of the crowd watched in shock as Scott ran toward the ball, leaping high into the air to catch it. He ran toward the field, dodging players left and right as he got closer to the goal. He whipped the ball past their goalie and the crowd roared in excitement as he scored.

Olivia and Allison jumped to their feet—Olivia getting over her grudge in her excitement—and cheered loudly for Scott, wrapping their arms around each other's shoulders.

Olivia looked down at Lydia, who was still seated, pouting. "Oh, come on, Lyds! Cheer!"

Lydia rolled her eyes and got to her feet, reluctantly clapping.

"Pass to McCall!" Olivia heard Coach yell to his players. "Pass to McCall!"

Stiles trailed after Coach, screaming his encouragement for his best friend.

The game started up again, this time with the opposite team getting the ball. Scott ran up to the receiving player and, to everyone's amazement, the player passed the ball to Scott. Scott ran down the field again, whipping that ball at the goalie and actually ripping the guy's net.

Everyone jumped to their feet again as the scoreboard buzzed, adding another point to Beacon High. Unfortunately, the opposing team argued the play but Coach resisted, taking the referee's whistle and blowing it, declaring it as a goal.

Once again, the ball was passed to Scott. He sprinted down the field, coming up against five different players. Olivia tensed up when she saw how jumpy he seemed and realized that he was on the verge of changing.

"Come on, Scott," she whispered, hoping that he could hear her over the roar of the crowd. "Control it. Control it."

Scott hesitated, the opposing team's players closing in on him.

"You can do it, Scott," Allison said from beside her. "You can do it."

Scott abruptly shot the ball into the net, scoring the winning goal of the game.

The final whistle blew and the crowd went wild, rushing onto the field in excitement. As Allison ran off the bleachers, Olivia carefully watched Scott, who was running off the field.

She awkwardly said her goodbyes to Chris and walked down the bleachers, pausing when her phone buzzed.

Shockingly, it was Derek.

_**Derek**_: _Out of jail. Talk later_.

Olivia sighed in relief and looked around, coming face-to-face with Stiles without realizing it.

He gave her an apologetic look. "My dad told me about your cousin…"

Olivia pursed her lips. "Yeah. Now you know why I was sure he didn't kill her."

"I'm sorry, Olivia," Stiles said softly. "Really, I am."

Olivia sighed, pushing her hands into her coat pockets. "Thank you for apologizing," she said sincerely. She awkwardly looked around, seeing that Allison had disappeared from the field, probably searching for Scott. "You might want to find Scott. It looked like he was having a rough time out there."

Stiles nodded. "Okay, yeah…um, see you later."

"Bye, Stiles."

As Stiles ran off to look for Scott, Olivia found Lydia. On the way to their car, Olivia was just glad that Derek was out of jail. Maybe now they could finally rest—well, after Derek found the alpha who turned Scott.


	3. Hospital Visits

**[1x03; Pack Mentality]**

Olivia was not expecting Scott and Stiles to rush up to her as soon as she got out of Lydia's car, but there they were. They both waved at her with awkward smiles on their faces, obviously trying to apologize to her.

Knowing that they probably needed help with something, she said goodbye to her cousin, ignoring the questioning look Lydia gave her, and walked over to Stiles and Scott.

"What's going on?" she asked bluntly.

"First of all, we're sorry about Derek and your cousin," Scott said quickly.

"Apology accepted. What's going on?" she repeated herself.

Scott and Stiles exchanged a loaded look before Scott confessed, "Okay, I had a dream about Allison. And it was a really weird dream," he said as the three of them walked up to the school together. "At first, we were making out in a school bus but then I lost control and started mauling her."

Olivia hummed, wondering what she was supposed to do about this dream of his. "Okay…"

"So, you killed her?" Stiles asked, opening the door so Scott and Olivia could walk through.

"I don't know," Scott shrugged. "I just woke up and I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before."

"Really? I have," Stiles announced. "They usually end a bit differently."

Olivia wrinkled her nose, not exactly wanting to know that much information about Stiles.

Scott didn't look pleased to know about Stiles' dreams, either. "Okay, I meant that I've never had a dream that felt that real."

"And can you please not talk about your freaky sex dreams?" Olivia added, looking up at Stiles. "Too much detail."

"All right, noted," Stiles shrugged, unbothered.

"Great," Olivia rolled her eyes and turned to Scott. "Let me guess, you—"

"No," Scott interrupted her. "I don't know you that well but I do know that you think my dream has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow. Like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."

"Frankly, yes," Olivia nodded, catching the annoyed looks both of the boys were throwing her. "What? You came to me for help."

"Okay, Livvy's negativity aside," Stiles spoke up, ignoring the unhappy look Olivia sent his way. "I think you're handling this pretty fuckin' well, Scott. It's not like there's a lycanthropy-for-beginners class you can take."

"There's not a class but there is a teacher," Olivia pointed out the obvious.

"Who, Derek?" Stiles scoffed, looking at Scott for back-up. The idea of going to Derek for help was pretty ridiculous.

Scott shrugged. "Maybe she's right."

Stiles reached over Olivia's head and slapped Scott on the back of his head. "Are you forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail?"

"Derek's not petty enough to not help Scott over that," Olivia said, defending her cousin. Though they both hadn't forgiven the new werewolf and his smart-ass best friend, they knew that helping Scott control his change was for the greater good.

"And besides," Scott said, growing more into the idea of asking Derek for help. "chasing her, dragging her to the back of the bus? It felt so real."

"How real?" Stiles asked, dodging another student as he opened the door leading out of the school.

"Like it actually happened."

Olivia's eyes fell on the scene before her, her eyes widening in horror.

The bus parked right outside the doors was busted open, its back door almost ripped off its hinges completely. There was blood everywhere, numerous handprints slapped on the windows, seats, and yellow siding. Police officers, including Stiles' dad, hovered around the scene, taking photographic evidence and conducting interviews to the principal and some teachers.

Stiles gasped. "I think it did."

"Shit. Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Scott cursed, whipping his phone from his pocket as he turned to walk back into the school. He frantically texted Allison, hoping that this was just a huge coincidence and that she was safe and already at school.

"She's probably fine," Stiles tried to soothe his best friend as he and Olivia followed him through the hallway.

"She's not answering my texts, Stiles!"

"Scott," Olivia tried, intending to tell him about the text Allison sent her earlier, explaining that she got a late start. "She's fine. She—"

"Do you see her?" Scott interrupted her, looking around the hallway for the tall brunette.

"It could just be a coincidence, all right?" Stiles said. "A seriously amazing coincidence."

"Just help me find her, okay?" Scott begged before turning down a different hallway.

"Great!" Stiles sighed, as Scott walked away, rubbing a hand over his head. "Now Scott more than likely killed his girlfriend."

"Relax, she's fine," Olivia put a hand on his arm, pulling his hand away from his hair. "Allison texted me earlier. She's just late today."

"What?" Stiles' eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell Scott that?"

"I tried!" she said defensively. "I was interrupted."

Stiles nodded and sighed. "Sorry, sorry."

"It's fine," she waved him off. "You're protective of Scott. I get it. I'm that way with Lydia and Jackson."

Stiles chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you're friends with that douchebag."

"Well, I've known him for a long time," Olivia wasn't even offended by Stiles' name-calling. Everyone knew that Jackson was an ass—even Jackson knew.

"_Attention, students, this is your principal,"_ the overhead speaker squeaked to life. _"I know you're all wondering about the incident that occurred last night to one of our buses. While the police work to determine what happened, classes will proceed as scheduled."_

Olivia frowned as the rest of her peers groaned. "That doesn't sound like a good environment to conduct an investigation."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "But the principal probably insisted on school continuing. You know how they are about their professional development days."

Olivia laughed, smiling up at him. "Yeah."

"Maybe it was my blood on the door," Scott whispered to Stiles, turned around in his seat to talk to his best friend as Mr. Harris droned on and on about covalent bonds.

Stiles shrugged, playing with his pencil. "Could have been animal blood, you know? Maybe you caught a rabbit or something."

"And did what?" Scott raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ate it."

"Raw?"

"No, you stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven," Stiles muttered sarcastically. "I don't know, you're the one who can't remember anything."

"Mr. Stilinski!" Mr. Harris called from the front of the room, his hands on his hips as he glared at his least favorite student. "if that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones out every once in a while."

Stiles scoffed.

"I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

"No," Stiles objected, horrified.

Mr. Harris pointed at two empty seats, one in the back and one in the front. Stiles grabbed his bag, textbook, and notes and headed to the empty seat in the back, relieved to find that the seat was next to Olivia.

He couldn't believe his luck.

"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much," Mr. Harris quipped as Stiles sat at the table next to Olivia.

"I'm good," Stiles smirked, his eyes trailing over to the brunette beauty next to him.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him and focused on her diligent notes.

"Hey," the girl next to Scott shouted, rushing over to the window. "I think they found something!"

Squeals from chairs scraping across the linoleum flooring echoed through the classroom as everyone got out of their seats and ran to the windows. Stiles and Olivia made their way over to Scott, the three of them watching as two paramedics pushed a gurney holding an injured man over to the waiting ambulance.

"That's not a rabbit," Scott murmured to Stiles.

All of a sudden, the injured man shot up, screaming in pain. Everyone shrieked and jumped away from the windows, all shocked by the man's abrupt screams. They all thought that he was dead.

"Okay," Stiles breathed in relief, patting Scott's shoulders. "This is good. This is good. He got up, he's not dead."

"Yeah, just severely injured," Olivia commented, looking back to the man being loaded into the ambulance.

"Not helping," Stiles shot her a stern look before turning back to Scott. "Look, dead guys can't do that."

"Stiles," Scott looked at him with wide eyes. "I did that."

"But dreams aren't memories," Stiles protested as he and Scott walked over to their usual lunch table, their trays full of food.

"Then it wasn't a dream," Scott proclaimed, sitting down. "Something happened last night and I can't remember what."

"Okay, but what makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers?"

"Because," Scott looked around to see if anyone was listening. "during the full moon, he wasn't changed. He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night, attacking some totally innocent guy."

"You don't know that," Stiles argued.

"I don't not know it," Scott pointed out. "I can't go out with Allison. I have to cancel."

"No, you're not canceling, okay?" Stiles shook his head as he picked up the orange from his tray. "You can't just cancel your entire life."

Across the cafeteria, Olivia stood, patiently waiting for Lydia and the rest of their group to get out of the food line. Having brought her own lunch, she didn't have to go through and pick up the nasty food that the lunch ladies were giving out.

Finally, Lydia walked up to her with her tray. "We're sitting with Scott and his friend today."

"We are?" Olivia raised her eyebrows at her cousin, bewildered. "Why?"

"Well, since Allison is dating Scott and you are spending more time with them, I figured we could all get to know each other," Lydia smiled, almost too cheerfully. Olivia was instantly suspicious. "Why were you talking to them, anyway?"

"Oh, uh, Stiles and I have Advanced Spanish together. We have a project coming up and we're partners," Olivia lied. While she and Stiles did have that class together, they didn't have a project. But Lydia didn't need to know the reason why she was actually speaking to Stiles and Scott.

"Hmm," Lydia pursed her lips, still disapproving of Olivia's choice of foreign language. "Let's go, then."

As the two of them approached the table where Stiles and Scott were sitting, they heard Stiles say, "We'll figure it out."

"Figure what out?" Lydia asked, setting her tray down on the table next to Scott.

Olivia took the seat across from her and next to Stiles, sheepishly returning the smile he sent her.

"Uh, homework," Scott said in a way that Olivia knew he was lying.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed before moving his head closer to Olivia to ask her, "Why are you guys sitting with us?"

"Allison," she whispered back.

Just as she said the taller brunette's name, she sat down on the other side of Scott. She grinned at her boyfriend and then greeted him and Stiles. Stiles nodded at her and then turned to Danny, who was sitting on his other side, and grinned. Danny turned away, obviously not happy with his seating arrangement.

Olivia snickered at the frown on Stiles' face at Danny's rejection and opened her lunch pack.

"Get up," Jackson ordered Luke, the guy who sat at the head of the table between Olivia and Lydia.

"How come you never ask Danny to get up?" Luke complained, noticing that there weren't anymore open seats at the table.

"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot," Danny snarked from down the table. Olivia and Lydia grinned at Danny as he changed the subject. "So, I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack. Probably a cougar."

"I heard mountain lion," Jackson disagreed with his best friend, shaking his head.

Olivia rolled her eyes, muttering, "A cougar is a mountain lion," at the same time as Lydia.

Olivia smiled at Lydia while Jackson furrowed his eyebrows at her. Lydia instantly corrected herself.

"Isn't it?"

"Who cares?" Jackson asked harshly, not having any empathy for the injured man. "The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway."

"Wow, Jackson, that's so compassionate of you," Olivia quipped, rolling her eyes at the blonde.

"Uh, I just found out who it is," Stiles spoke up, his phone in his hand. His dad had just sent him a text with a video detailing the attack and who the victim was. "Check it out."

He held out the phone so everyone could watch the video.

"_The Sheriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack,"_ the male reporter announced on the video as Noah walked around the bus, looking for clues. "_Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."_

"Hey, I know this guy," Scott spoke up, his face full of recognition.

"You do?" Allison asked, curious.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus back when I lived with my dad," Scott confirmed. "He was the driver."

Olivia winced and shared a worried look with Stiles. It wasn't good that Scott not only had a dream where he mauled Allison on a bus and someone was actually injured but that he knew the victim, too. Did Scott actually do this?

Why was this becoming so complicated?

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia asked, fed up with hearing about the bus incident. "Like…oh," she turned to Allison with a smile. "where are we going tomorrow night?"

Allison gave her a confused look.

"You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?" Lydia reminded the brunette.

Olivia really hoped that Lydia wasn't inviting herself and Jackson to Scott and Allison's date.

"Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do," Allison glanced at Scott for help.

"Well, I am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos," Lydia glanced scornfully at Jackson and continued, "So, if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun."

"Hanging out?" Scott looked at Allison as he spoke. "Like, the four of us? Do you wanna hang out like us and _them_?"

Olivia grimaced—this was going downhill so quickly. Guys and girls didn't just hang out. Well, some did but not when they had chemistry like Allison and Scott.

Allison shrugged apologetically. "Yeah, I guess," she looked around Scott at Lydia. "Sounds fun."

"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson sneered lightly, picking up his fork. "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

Olivia rolled her eyes and forced the fork out of his hand. "You're so dramatic."

"How about bowling?" Lydia asked Jackson brightly. "You love to bowl."

"Yeah, with actual competition," Jackson said, giving Lydia a pointed look.

"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison leaned forward to ask Jackson, twisting her lips. She looked at Scott. "You can bowl, right?"

Scott grimaced. "Sort of."

Olivia heard Stiles let out a quiet groan and glanced at him as Jackson leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.

"Is it sort of or yes?" he confronted Scott.

"Yes," Scott's tone harshened, leaning toward Jackson. "In fact, I'm a great bowler."

Olivia had the feeling that Scott was a terrible bowler.

"Great!" Lydia exclaimed. "We'll meet up tomorrow."

"You're a terrible bowler!" Stiles exclaimed as he and Scott walked through the school at the end of the day.

"I know!" Scott lamented, disappointed with himself. "I'm such an idiot."

"Yes, you are," Stiles agreed. "God, it was like watching a car wreck. I mean, first it turned into the whole group date thing and then, out of nowhere, comes that phrase."

"Hang out," Scott said, knowing exactly where Stiles was coming from. They both knew what hanging out with a hot girl meant in their experience.

"You don't hang out with hot girls, okay?" Stiles failed his arms in contempt. "It's like death. Once it's hanging out, you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out."

Scott groaned. "How is this happening? I either killed a guy or I didn't—"

"I don't think Danny likes me very much," Stiles commented randomly, thinking about the boy he sat next to at lunch.

"—I ask Allison on a date and now we're hanging out—"

"Am I not attractive to gay guys?" Stiles wondered.

"—I make first line and the team captain wants to destroy me and now—now I'm gonna be late for work," Scott sighed, finishing his rant as he walked out of school to get his bike.

"Wait, Scott," Stiles called after him. "You didn't—am I attractive to gay guys? You didn't answer my question!"

The next evening, Lydia had roped Olivia into helping Allison pick out her outfit for the group date that they were going on. Olivia hadn't wanted to go to the house of known hunters, but she didn't exactly have a choice when her cousin asked her to do something.

So, even though she was kind of hurt she wasn't included in the group date, Olivia found herself perched on Allison's bed in her cardboard box-filled room, watching as the taller brunette tried to find something to wear.

Allison stood in front of her closet, pushing some hangers aside and pulling out an ugly brown shirt. She showed it to Olivia and Lydia, smiling expectantly.

"Mmm," Lydia hummed, her lips wrinkled in disgust. "Pass."

Allison shrugged and put the shirt back in her closet, pulling out another one for the girls to see. Olivia pursed her lips at the hideous multi-colored shirt Allison held up to her torso.

"Pass," she muttered, looking at the time on her phone.

Lydia sighed loudly and hopped up from the bed, walking over to the closet. "Let me see…" she went through the clothes hung up in front of her, eyes narrowing in disapproval. "Pass. Pass. Ugh, pass on all of it. Allison," she turned to the taller brunette and smiled slightly. "my respect for your taste is dwindling by the second."

Olivia snickered under her breath and stood up, making her way over to Lydia and Allison. She searched the closet quickly and pulled out a black shirt covered with soft sequins.

"This one is fine," she handed the shirt to Allison.

Allison smiled slightly and took the shirt, holding it up to her torso to look in her full-length mirror.

The door opened and Mr. Argent walked into the room, his jacket in his hands. He didn't seem to realize that he had just walked in on a room of girls trying to find clothes for a date.

"Dad, hello," Allison greeted her father softly, a pointed look in her eyes.

Mr. Argent paused in realization as he put on his coat and smiled awkwardly. "Right," he nodded. "I'm sorry. I completely forgot to knock."

Olivia sheepishly waved at him while Lydia grinned and plopped herself on Allison's bed, curling up seductively. "Hi, Mr. Argent."

Allison rolled her eyes. "Dad, do you need something?"

Mr. Argent continued to put on his jacket, straightening out the collar. "I wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight."

"What?" Allison gaped at him while Lydia frowned in disappointment. "I'm going out with my friends tonight."

"Not when some animal is out there attacking people."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at the floor, hoping that Mr. Argent wasn't looking at her when he spoke about the animal attacking people. Luckily, when she looked up, he was still staring at Allison.

Allison frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dad, Dad," she attempted to protest. "I'm—"

"It's out of my hands," Mr. Argent interrupted her with a calm smile. "There's a curfew. No one's allowed out past nine-thirty. Hey, no more arguing."

As Mr. Argent left the room, Allison sighed heavily.

"Someone's daddy's little girl," Olivia commented as Allison seemed to agree to her father's command. She expected more of a rebelliousness out of Allison, to be honest.

"Sometimes," Allison said heavily, glancing at her closed door. "but not tonight."

Allison grabbed a purple beanie from her desk and settled it over her curls before walking over to her window. Olivia and Lydia watched, shocked, as she climbed onto the roof and did a front flip off of it, landing safely on the ground.

"What the hell?" Lydia breathed, looking at Allison with wide eyes.

Allison grinned up at them. "Eight years gymnastics. Are you coming?"

Olivia and Lydia exchanged a look before Olivia called, "We'll take the stairs."

Fifteen minutes later after Lydia dropped her off on the way to the bowling alley, Olivia wandered through the long-term care unit at Beacon Hills Memorial. She approached the front desk and smiled at the receptionist, waiting for her to get off the phone.

It had been almost two weeks since Olivia last visited her father, which was longer than she liked to go without seeing him. She usually visited every Wednesday or so, but with all of this Scott-being-a-werewolf business, she hadn't had the time.

Peter Hale had been in the long-term care unit at the hospital for almost six years now, having been transferred there half a year after the fire that killed her mother. He had severe burns covering most of his body—including half of his face—and had been in a coma-like state. He couldn't talk or move or even take care of himself.

As much as it hurt to see her dad like that, Olivia wanted him to know she was there for him.

The receptionist—Sheila—finally hung up the phone and smiled at her. "Olivia, it's been a while, hon."

All the workers in the long-term unit knew who Olivia was after weekly visits for five years. They were all pretty nice, except for Jennifer, her father's nurse.

"Yeah, uh, I've been busy," Olivia gave her a weak smile. "I'm getting used to my new classes."

"Of course," Sheila smiled indulgently and handed Olivia a visitor's sign-in sheet. "Well, you can go on in. Your dad just had dinner."

Olivia signed the sheet. "Thanks, Sheila."

"No problem, hon."

Olivia gave her another sweet smile and left the desk, heading to her father's room just down the hall. She knocked gently as she walked into the room, seeing her dad sitting in his wheelchair in front of the blank television.

"Hey, Dad," she greeted him softly, walking around his chair to take a seat in front of him.

Jennifer, no matter how bitchy she was, made sure that Olivia knew it was important for Peter to be able to see who was talking to him. Even if he didn't understand.

"Sorry I haven't been to visit you," Olivia apologized, looking into his blank eyes. "School started up again and I've been busy with that. I'm taking Advanced Spanish this semester. Lydia isn't too happy that I keep spending time on it, but Derek and Laura said that the Hales could speak the language fluently."

Peter blinked but he didn't respond. Not that Oliva expected him to.

"Mr. Harris says I'm doing really well in Chemistry," she continued. "He's been giving me extra work. He claims it'll bring me to my full potential but I don't need extra worksheets to tell me I'm good at science."

Olivia went on, telling her father about superficial things that were happening in her life. When it came to the heavy stuff, she hesitated, eyes starting to water.

"Dad," she paused, her voice thick as she wiped her eyes before tears could form. "Dad, Laura's dead. Derek found her cut in half. Someone killed her but we don't think it was the Argents because then Derek would be the alpha and he's not."

She took a deep shuddering breath. "The alpha is still around, though. He attacked a bus driver at my school…he bit one of the kids in my class. His name's Scott. Derek and I are trying to help him adjust, but he's being a little stubborn."

"And he's got this friend," Olivia shook her head and chuckled once. "He's so annoying, he thinks he knows everything. But he's actually pretty smart," she admitted, thinking of Stiles' intellect. "Almost as smart as me."

Olivia's eye caught sight of the analog clock on the wall, seeing that visiting hours were almost over.

"I've got to go, Dad," she sighed, standing up. She leaned over and kissed the top of Peter's head. "I'll come back next week, on schedule. Love you."

Olivia gave him one last smile before leaving the room, missing the way Peter's eyes followed after her.

After signing out on the sheet up at the desk with Sheila, Olivia made her way back to the main part of the hospital. She had gotten a text message from Derek, telling her that he was there talking to the injured bus driver and that he'd take her home when he was finished.

She was planning on waiting around until his visit was done. However, she wasn't planning on running into Stiles Stilinski in the hallway by a vending machine.

"Olivia," Stiles looked at her in surprise, turning away from the machine with a candy-bar in one hand and a paper bag in the other. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was, uh, visiting my dad," Olivia gestured behind her awkwardly. "What about you?"

"Picking up medicine," Stiles held up the paper bag that had the logo of the hospital pharmacy printed on it.

Olivia nodded.

"Did you, uh, did you get the homework from Thomas?" Stiles already knew what their English homework was, but he wanted an excuse to keep talking to her. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"Yeah," Olivia nodded, remembering the assignment easily. "I can message you it, if you want."

"Oh, sure," Stiles grinned. "Um, do you have my number?"

"Yeah, you called me before," she reminded him before pausing. "Yeah, how'd you get my number?"

Stiles smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hand over his short hair. "I looked up your information in the system."

"That's illegal."

"Yeah…"

Olivia snorted, she couldn't help it. Sometimes Stiles could be a little funny when he wasn't annoying the shit out of her. Even though she should have been weirded out that he got her cellphone number from the system at his dad's work, she found it kind of funny that he went to such lengths just to find out what had happened with Jackson.

Suddenly, before Olivia could reply or Stiles could bask in the fact that he made her laugh, Derek came walking down the hallway. Olivia could see the slight confusion and panic in his eyes and she didn't like it one bit.

"Let's go," he said briskly, grabbing her arm.

Olivia looked back at Stiles, seeing his narrowed eyes, and let Derek pull her away.

"What's wrong?" she asked her cousin as they walked out of the hospital.

"The bus driver knew who I was," Derek answered tensely.

Olivia stopped breathing, shocked. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Derek opened the driver door of his Camaro and slid into his seat. "But I'm gonna find out."

Stiles walked gingerly across the roof next to Scott's bedroom window, trying not to let his full weight settle on the creaking material. He sneakily opened up the window that Scott never locked—which was kind of dangerous on his best friend's part—and tried to crawl onto the bed set right beneath it.

He cursed under his breath as his foot caught on the window sill.

Stiles freed himself and rolled onto the bed, screaming in fright when he came face-to-face with Scott's mom, Melissa.

Melissa, who was holding up a bat, about to swing at him.

Melissa shouted, shocked, and put down the bat. "Stiles, what the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing?" Stiles exclaimed in shock, gesturing wildly to the baseball bat in her hand. "God, do either of you even play baseball?"

Melissa scoffed, still breathing heavily from the shock of seeing Stiles.

The light turned on as Scott shuffled into the room, giving his mom and best friend questioning looks.

"Can you please tell your friend to use the front door?" Melissa asked Scott, waving her hand at Stiles.

"But we lock the front door," Scott said, shrugging. "he wouldn't be able to get in."

"Yeah, exactly."

Stiles gave Melissa an offended look.

"And, by the way," Melissa continued, looking between the boys. "do either of you care that there's a police-enforced curfew?"

"Not really."

"No."

Stiles and Scott grinned at each other when they spoke at the same time.

Melissa sighed. "No? All right, then," she threw the bat onto Scott's bed behind Stiles. "that's enough parenting for me in one night. Good night."

As Melissa walked out of Scott's room, Stiles sighed heavily, remembering why he came here.

After he saw Derek practically drag Olivia out of the hospital, nurses started to rush by him, a code being called. The bus driver was coding and the nurses tried to revive him, but he ended up dying.

It was very suspicious to Stiles that Derek just happened to be at the hospital just as the bus driver started to flat line.

Scott noticed the sad look Stiles gave him. As he pulled his desk chair over to the bed, he asked him, "What?"

"I left the hospital twenty minutes ago," Stiles started solemnly. "It's the bus driver. He succumbed to his wounds."

"Succumbed?" Scott gave him a confused look.

"Scott," Stiles sighed sadly. "he's dead."


	4. Saving Derek

**[1x04; Magic Bullet]**

Olivia rubbed her left arm, trying to soothe the stinging that had been there since she had woken up that morning. She sighed and focused on her history teacher, Mrs. Larson, giving her a polite smile as she handed Olivia back her graded test.

Oliva bit the inside of her cheek to fight her smile as she looked at her perfect score.

Now that Mrs. Larson had passed her desk, she pulled out her cellphone, anxiously checking to see if Derek had messaged her back. He had told her that he was going hunting for the alpha the night before and he had yet to message her with any details.

She didn't even know if he was okay.

A few rows back and one aisle over, Stiles turned away from the back of Olivia's head and looked at Scott's her curiosity overwhelming him.

The night that the bus driver died, Scott confronted Derek about everything. After beating Scott up, Derek revealed that he, in fact, wasn't the werewolf that bit Scott and that there was another werewolf entirely. An alpha werewolf that wanted Scott in it's pack.

Stiles had tried to give Scott space since the revelation but he was growing impatient. He wanted to know everything.

He tapped on Scott's shoulder, getting his attention.

"If Derek isn't the alpha, if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?" he asked his best friend quietly.

Scott hesitated for a second before shrugging lightly. "I don't know."

"Did the alpha kill the bus driver?" Stiles prodded further.

"I don't know."

Stiles sighed heavily. "Does Allison's dad know about the alpha?"

"I don't know!" Scott exclaimed loudly, frustrated, as he turned to look at Stiles.

Everyone in the classroom turned to look at them, hearing Scott's outburst, including Olivia. Stiles sheepishly raised his eyebrows and shrunk away from his best friend, trying to get the attention off himself.

Thankfully, Mrs. Larson came around to their aisle. She handed Stiles his test and then gave one to Scott. Stiles smiled triumphantly when he saw the 'A' circled in red ink.

Wondering what Scott's grade was, he leaned forward. He saw the 'D-' with a little note beside it and grimaced.

"Dude, you need to study more," he commented jokingly.

Scott pressed his lips together and slammed his test face-down on his desk.

"That was a joke," Stiles said flatly. Seeing how disappointed Scott looked, he added, "Scott, it's one test. You're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"

"No," Scott sighed, feeling a little bit better. "I'm studying at Allison's after school today."

Stiles raised his eyebrows, feeling pride well within his chest. "That's my boy!"

"We're just studying."

"No, you're not."

Scott glanced back at Stiles. "No, I'm not?"

"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you," Stiles stated seriously. Everyone knew that studying with a girl wasn't just _studying_. There had to be some touching or something involved. "If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to God I'll have you de-balled."

"Okay!" Scott said quickly, wishing Stiles would shut up in their very crowded classroom. "Just stop with the questions, man."

"Done," Stiles agreed easily. "No more questions. No more talk about the alpha or Derek. Especially Derek…who still scares me."

"Scott's coming over?" Lydia asked, raising her eyebrows at Allison. "Tonight?"

"We're just studying together," Allison excused as she, Lydia, and Olivia walked through the hallway, heading toward the library for their free period.

Lydia scoffed. "_Just studying_ never ends with just studying," she smirked, sharing an amused look with Olivia. "It's like getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel."

"Well, so what are you saying?" Allison asked, causing Olivia and Lydia to pause on the stairwell.

"She's saying to make sure he covers up," Olivia told Allison, giving the taller brunette a small smile.

Lydia nodded in agreement but Allison looked at them blankly, obviously not getting it.

"Hello, Snow White!" Lydia exclaimed, rolled her eyes. "Do it with him with a _condom_."

Allison laughed in disbelief as they started up the stairs again. "Are you kidding? After one date?"

"Don't be a total prude," Lydia shrugged. "Give him a little taste."

"Only if you want to, though," Olivia added, not wanting Allison to do anything she wasn't ready or wanting to do.

Allison smiled gratefully at Olivia but then turned to Lydia, much more unsure. "Well…I mean, how much is a _little taste_?"

"Oh, God, you really like him, don't you?"

Allison nodded, crossing her arms over her chest self-consciously. "He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan: no boyfriends until college. I just move too much. But then I met him and he was different," she shrugged. "I don't know. I can't explain it."

"I can," Olivia said simply. "It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Lydia rolled her eyes fondly at Olivia while Allison laughed. "What?"

"I'll tell you what to do," Lydia spoke up, offering her expertise. "When is he coming over?"

"Right after school."

"Hmm," Lydia hummed thoughtfully. "Let's see…"

Allison and Lydia continued to the library but Olivia stopped at the girls' bathroom, checking the status of her make-up and pulling up her long sleeves, checking the skin of her left arm to see why it was tingling. Seeing no blemish, wound, or rash, she left the bathroom to meet up with the girls.

She stopped as she passed Jackson in the hallway, seeing the look of pain on his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"What's wrong, Jackson?" she asked him.

"Your cousin's here," he said shortly, voice tense.

"Wait, Derek's here?" Olivia shook her head, wondering why Derek had come all the way to the school when he could have just messaged or called her.

"Yeah and he needs to cut his fucking nails," Jackson cursed, pulling his hand from his neck. In his palm was a square of bloody gauze.

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, worried. Derek had excellent control; he wouldn't just go around digging his claws into people for no reason. "Sorry, Jax," she apologized. "Make sure you put some antibiotic cream on them. I'm going to find Derek."

Jackson waved her off.

Olivia turned and, almost as if in a daze, started walking through the hallways. She went back down the stairs and into the English hallway. In the corner, but the bell, she saw Derek leaning against the cinder block wall.

As she rushed toward him, she saw that he was paler than she had ever seen him with dark circles under his eyes. Upon further examination, she could see blood dripping down his left hand and onto the linoleum floors.

"Derek, what are you doing here? What happened? Are you okay?" Olivia rambled, looking up at him. His eyes were bloodshot, making his pale-green irises stand out.

"I was shot," Derek breathed.

"S-Shot?" Olivia stuttered, her own breath picking up. She grabbed his left hand and pushed up the sleeve of his leather jacket. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw a nasty bullet wound, bloody with short black veins surrounding it. "You're not healing."

"I think it's wolfsbane," Derek informed her shakily. "I need help."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"I need Scott's help," Derek corrected himself. "Ollie, it was Kate who shot me."

Olivia tried not to panic at the name. Derek had told her all about Kate Argent, even when he told no one else.

Kate Argent was in her early twenties when she approached Derek, who was still a teenager. She manipulated him, had sex with him, got him to trust her, and then burnt down the Hale house, killing almost everyone in it. She was the one who killed her mom and injured her dad.

Olivia didn't hate a lot of people but she hated Kate Argent.

"Okay," she said calmly, trying to calm the rollercoaster going on in her head. "Where Scott is, Stiles is. We find Stiles, we find Scott."

Olivia grabbed Derek, helping him lean against her, his arm around her shoulders—which didn't look or feel great to Derek since she was so much shorter than him.

The final bell rang as the two of them slowly navigated the school, heading to the parking lot. All around them, students rushed through the hall, heading to their cars or the bus they rode to go home.

They finally reached the parking lot and Olivia's eyes widened when she saw Stiles about to drive away in his blue Jeep. She sped up, practically dragging Derek behind her, and stepped in front of Stiles' car.

It was only when Stiles slammed on his brakes that Derek collapsed onto the ground.

Olivia immediately knelt next to him as the cars behind Stiles started honking, wondering what the hold-up was. She patted Derek's pale cheeks, rousing him back to consciousness.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Scott demanded as he ran up to them. Stiles came up behind him, having climbed out of his Jeep at Scott's insistence.

Olivia glared at him. "He was shot."

Stiles observed the older werewolf who was breathing heavily and trying not to puke all over the ground. "He's not looking so good, dude."

"Wow, what astute observations there, Sherlock," Olivia snapped at him, her panic causing her to be angry at the wrong people.

Stiles glared back at her.

"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked Derek, bewildered. When he was shot with the arrow by Mr. Argent, he healed within minutes.

"I can't," Derek said weakly. "It was a different kind of bullet."

Stiles perked up excitedly. "A silver bullet?"

Olivia glared at him while Derek spat, "No, you idiot!"

"Wait, wait," Scott spoke up thoughtfully. "That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours."

"What?" Olivia asked quickly, wondering how Scott knew this. "Who said forty-eight hours?"

"The one who shot Derek," Scott said quickly.

Derek let out a quiet grow as a wave of pain shot through his body, his eyes glowing icy-blue.

"What are you doing?" Scott hissed at him, looking to see if anyone was watching close enough to see that something was wrong with Derek. "Stop that!"

"Derek, your eyes," Olivia said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Derek's eyes returned to their natural pale-green. "I'm trying to tell you, I can't!" he hissed at Scott, his eyes once again switching to blue.

"We need your help, Scott," Olivia said firmly, grabbing Derek's arm to try to help him to his feet.

Scott looked around once more and grabbed his other arm. "Derek, get up!" he looked at Stiles, who was watching the scene curiously. "Help us put him in your car."

Stiles shuffled forward, taking the arm that Olivia was holding onto and helping Scott pull Derek to his feet. Olivia hurried over to Stiles' jeep and opened the passenger door, allowing Scott to help her cousin into the seat.

She climbed into the Jeep through the driver's side, settling in the back seat.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek ordered Scott as Stiles got into the driver's seat.

Scott scoffed. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"She's an Argent, Scott," Olivia leaned forward so Scott could see her. She knew that Scott could figure out what to do. "She's with _them_."

He was going to Allison's house, after all.

Scott looked back at Derek, narrowing his eyes. "Why should I help you?"

Derek glared at him. "Because you need me."

Scott looked down the line of cars and then back at Derek. "Fine, I'll try," he gave in, looking at Stiles. "Get him out of here."

Stiles gritted his teeth and put the Jeep in drive. "I hate you so much for this," he muttered to Scott before pulling out of the parking lot.

Stiles angrily pursed his lips, sneaking glances in the rear-view mirror as Olivia helped Derek out of his leather jacket.

They had already been on the road for a half-hour and so far there was nothing from Scott. He knew that he told Scott not to squander his opportunity to hook up with Allison but he hoped that his best friend had enough sense to know that things had changed. The sooner that Scott found out what kind of bullet Derek was shot with, the better.

His phone buzzed from his cup holder; he checked the message from Scott.

_**Scott**__: Need more time. _

Stiles huffed and slammed the phone back into the cup holder.

"Any news?" Olivia asked, leaning between the driver and passenger seats.

"He needs more time," Stiles answered grumpily. He glanced at Derek and added, "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."

"Almost where?" Derek asked quietly.

"Your house?"

Derek abruptly turned his head toward Stiles. "What?"

"No, you can't take him there," Olivia objected, shaking her head firmly.

Stiles scoffed. "I can't take him to his own house?"

"Not when I can't protect myself," Derek said, as though it should be obvious to Stiles.

Olivia nodded in agreement.

_Motherfucker_, he thought, _I'm going to kill him before the bullet does_.

Stiles shook his head and sharply turned his steering wheel, turning off onto the side of the road. He put the Jeep in park and faced Olivia and Derek.

"All right," he raised his voice. "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet, hmm? Are you dying?"

Olivia inhaled sharply, not liking the fact that Derek could very well die, while Derek simply shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "I have a last resort."

"What do you mean, what last resort?" Stiles shouted, fed up with the werewolf. He saw Derek raise his sleeve and abruptly gagged when he saw the bullet wound that was causing them so much trouble. "_Oh, my God_. What is that?"

"Stiles," Olivia sighed, sending him a flat look.

Stiles ignored her. "Oh, is that contagious?" he whined, shaking his head. "You know what, you should probably just get out."

"Start the car," Derek ordered, voice firm. "Now."

Stiles stiffened, his jaw clenched, and any other time, Olivia might have thought that he looked very attractive when he was angry.

"I don't think you should be _barking_ orders with the way you look, okay?" he glared at Derek. "In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your werewolf ass out into the middle of the fucking road and leave you for dead."

"Stiles!"

Derek ignored Olivia and narrowed his eyes at the spastic teen. "Start the car or I'm gonna rip your throat out _with my teeth_."

"Derek!"

Stiles pursed his lips and stubbornly faced forward, not touching the ignition. Yeah, he was afraid of Derek, but he wasn't about to be bossed around in his own damn Jeep. He wasn't too sure he believed Derek, anyway. Was he really willing to kill Stiles in front of Olivia?

"Stiles," Olivia leaned forward, placing a warm hand on Stiles' shoulder. He looked back at her, eyes widening at the desperate look in her cobalt-blue eyes. "Can you please help? Please? He's my family."

Stiles closed his eyes, not being able to resist her pleading look. He sighed and started the Jeep again, pulling back onto the road.

Olivia squeezed his shoulders, grateful. "Thank you."

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked Scott through the phone, glancing over at Derek and Olivia. Olivia was pressing some tissues she found in her purse to Derek's wound but it wasn't doing much in way of helping.

"_Take him somewhere, anywhere_," Scott responded, making Stiles roll his eyes.

He sighed. "And, by the way, he's starting to smell."

"_Like what?"_

"Like death," Stiles looked over at Derek, just to see the older werewolf glaring at him.

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Scott spoke, "_Okay, take him to the animal clinic."_

"What about your boss?" Stiles asked.

"_He's gone by now_," Scott said, causing Stiles to look at the clock. They had been driving around for close to four hours now. "_There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."_

"What's he saying?" Olivia asked, catching Stiles' attention.

He shook his head. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take him."

Olivia raised her eyebrows while Derek reached for the phone, holding it up to his face.

"Did you find it?"

"_How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million,"_ Olivia could hear Scott now, since the phone was closer to her. "_This house is like the fucking Walmart of guns."_

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?" Derek reminded him.

"_I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."_

Olivia narrowed her eyes at the phone, mentally cursing Scott out in her head. Why was his boy so stubborn?

"Then think about this," Derek retorted. "The alpha calls you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So, if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

Derek hung up the call and passed the phone back to Stiles.

"All right," Stiles said, starting up the Jeep and pulling out onto the road once again. "To the animal clinic."

The drive to the animal clinic took another fifteen minutes and Derek was looking even worse by they time they pulled up to the modest building. Stiles held onto Derek while Olivia searched for the spare key behind the dumpster and when she unlocked the door, the three of them stumbled in.

Feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, Stiles let go of Derek, letting him fall into a pile of dog food bags.

He quickly read the text and looked up at Olivia and Derek. "Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?"

Olivia cursed under her breath, recognizing the name. In her vast internet research of wolfsbane and each species effects on werewolves, Nordic Blue Monkshood was rare and hard to cure.

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane," Derek told Stiles. "He has to bring me the bullet."

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"'Cause I'm gonna die without it."

"Okay, we need that bullet!" Stiles messaged Scott back, requesting the presence of the bullet.

Olivia couldn't believe this was happening. She had been trying not to think about the fact that Derek might be dying all day, but it was now at the forefront of her mind. And she was freaking out.

She couldn't lose Derek. He was the last connection to her father's side of the family she had, other than her semi-comatose father who looked like he'd never heal. She loved Derek; he was her cousin, older brother, and good friend all wrapped into one person.

Olivia couldn't imagine her life without him.

"Livvy."

Olivia looked up sharply at that stupid nickname that Stiles kept calling her. He was looking at her, his eyes clearing showing his concern for her.

She wished that he'd show concern for Derek because otherwise, it was just her who cared whether he lived or died.

But she knew that Stiles didn't trust or like Derek, so she didn't count on him being worried about her cousin.

"Yeah?" she asked, aware that she had been lost in her head.

"Let's bring him to the exam room," Stiles suggested, nodding toward Derek.

Olivia wordlessly agreed, rushing forward to help Derek off the pile of dog food. As they led Derek into the exam room, he squirmed around, trying to get his shirt off of him to allow easier access to the wound.

Once in the exam room, Stiles shrugged Derek off of him and turned on the light.

In the florescence, Derek's wound looked much, much worse. The little black veins that were around it earlier had grown, heading down his forearm and up his bicep. The wound it's was still bloody but was steadily turning black as Derek's body tried to heal itself.

Stiles silently gagged and stood at the stainless-steel table across from Derek. "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night of sleep couldn't take care of."

Derek looked at his wound carefully. "If the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me," he said with unsteady breaths. "Ollie, find me a tourniquet."

Olivia nodded and went to the counter, opening random drawers and rummaging through them.

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" Stiles snarked.

Derek rolled his eyes as Olivia continued to look for a long strip of strong rubber band. "If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time—last resort."

He shuffled over to Olivia's side and grabbed the bone saw from a drawer she had already gone through.

"Which is?" Stiles asked.

Derek turned around and slammed the saw on the table. "You're gonna cut off my arm."

_Oh, _Olivia thought_, that's what he needs the tourniquet for._

"Are you crazy?" she exclaimed, finally spotting a bright-blue tourniquet. She grabbed it and whipped around, glaring at her cousin for his insane idea.

Cutting off his arm? Really?!

Stiles stared at Derek with an open mouth, shocked into silence. Curiously, he picked up the bone saw and revved the blade.

He groaned, his shock wearing off. "Oh, my God. What if you bleed to death?"

Derek shrugged as Olivia wrapped the tourniquet around his arm, right above where the black veins stopped. "It'll heal if it works."

Stiles honestly felt like he was going to faint. "Ugh," he shuddered. "Look, I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not?"

Olivia finished tying the tourniquet around Derek's arm and backed away, glaring down at the bone saw. It wasn't the greatest idea, she knew, but if it would save Derek's life, who cared? She knew that Derek would rather have one arm than be dead and she felt the same way.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Stiles exclaimed, becoming panicked.

Derek gave him an unimpressed look. "You faint at the sight of blood?"

"No!" Stiles shouted. "but I might at the sight of a chopped-off arm!"

Derek shook his head, exhausted. "All right, fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm or I'm gonna cut off your head."

"Derek," Olivia sighed, tired of the two men bickering. God, they bickered more than she and Stiles did.

"Okay, you know what?" Stiles started angrily. "I'm so not buying your threats any—"

Derek cut Stiles off, leaning over the table and grabbing the collar of his shirt to pull Stiles closer to him. His teeth were bared threateningly, causing Stiles to gulp nervously.

"Holy shit…"

"Enough, Derek," Olivia shook her head and picked up the saw. "I'll do it."

Gagging, Derek slumped onto the table, letting go of his death grip on Stiles. Olivia looked on worried as he leaned over the edge.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked nervously, stepping away from the pale werewolf.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that Derek spew black liquid onto the floor, making it splatter everywhere.

"Holy God," Stiles gagged, backing up further and bumping into Olivia. "What the fuck is that?"

Olivia pulled Stiles out of the way and stepped around the black blood, helping Derek into a standing position. "It's his body trying to heal itself."

"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it," Stiles pointed out the obvious.

Olivia rolled her eyes and picked up the saw. "We have to do it now."

"Look—"

"I'll do it," Olivia interrupted Stiles' protests. "Just—just hold him down."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Stiles muttered, going up to Derek and holding the top half of his body down.

"Okay," Olivia breathed, trying to calm down. She inhaled and exhaled a few times to control her panicked breathing. "Okay, it's going to be okay."

Stiles couldn't help but be mad at himself that he was making Olivia cut of her cousin's arm. If he really had the guts, he'd do it for her.

Olivia shook her head. "All right," she placed the blade on Derek's arm, right under the tourniquet. "here we go."

Stiles readied himself, knowing that Derek was probably going to squirm while Olivia _cut off his arm. _

"Stiles?" Scott's voice echoed through the animal clinic right as Olivia went to press the trigger.

Stiles and Olivia simultaneously sighed in relief.

"Scott?"

Scott entered the exam room, his eyes going straight to the saw Olivia was holding to Derek's arm. His eyes were wide in shock as he yelled, "What the hell are you doing?"

Olivia pulled the saw away from Derek and dropped it on the table as Stiles laughed breathlessly.

"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares," Stiles sighed happily.

"Did you get it?" Derek asked Scott, weakly pushing Stiles off of him.

Scott nodded and pulled the bullet out of his pocket, handing it to Derek. Derek held the bullet to his eye level, observing it carefully.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked wearily.

Derek's eyes started glazing over. "I'm gonna—I'm gonna—"

He dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

"Derek!" Olivia shouted, running over to his unconscious form. She shook him roughly, trying to wake him up. "Derek! No, no, no!"

Stiles and Scott rushed into action. Stiles knelt down on the other side of Derek and tried to help Olivia while Scott went to the grate in the floor where the bullet fell.

"Derek, come on, wake up!" Stiles patted the older werewolf's face.

"Derek, please!" Olivia pleaded shakily, tears dripping from her eyes.

Stiles looked over at Scott, hoping he'd know what to do. "Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" Scott called back, trying desperately to reach the bullet. "I can't reach it!"

Olivia continued shaking her cousin, praying to whatever god was in the sky that he would just wake up. They were so close, they were so close…

"He's not waking up!" Stiles yelled unhelpfully. "I think he's dying. I think he's dead!"

"Shut up!" Olivia glared at him while Scott exclaimed, "Just hold on!"

Stiles patted Derek's face again and looked up when Scott declared that he got the bullet out of the grate.

"Please don't kill me for this," Stiles mumbled to Derek as he pushed Olivia's hands away and reared back, forming a fist. He decked Derek in the face and shouted at the pain that flared up immediately.

Derek woke up with a start and Olivia reached for him, helping him to his feet with help from Stiles and Scott.

"Give me—" Derek reached for the bullet.

Scott gave Derek the bullet and the older werewolf bit off the top with his teeth, tapping the bullet on the table. Purple dust fell out of the golden casing and Derek pulled out a light from his pants pocket and lit it up.

Sparks erupted from the wolfsbane, shocking Stiles and Scott, but Derek and Olivia paid it no attention. Derek scooped up the ashes and hesitated before smushing the wolfsbane into the bullet wound on his arm.

Derek fell to the floor once again, screaming from the pain jolting through his body. His back arched and Olivia winced in horror as he groaned loudly. But then the black veins on Derek's left arm started disappearing until the wound itself healed up, leaving behind smooth, unblemished skin.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Stiles shouted, pumping his fist in amazement. "Yes!"

Olivia rolled her eyes at the spastic boy and bent down, helping Derek off the floor.

Scott watched him carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Well, except for the agonizing pain," Derek snapped, ripping the tourniquet off his arm.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles commented causing Derek to glare at him.

Olivia nudged her cousin and gave him a they-just-saved-your-life-be-nice look. Derek softened his gaze and looked away, finding his discarded shirt and tugging it back on.

"Okay, we saved you life," Scott declared, narrowing his eyes at Derek. "which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that?"

Olivia started to protest. "Scott, you don't know—"

"And if you don't," Scott continued as though Olivia didn't speak. "I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad and I'm gonna tell him everything."

Olivia reared back as though she had been slapped in the face. She couldn't believe that Scott was so willing to trust the Argents. They were literally hunters who would kill him if they knew he was a werewolf. It didn't matter to people like Kate if you were young and innocent and had never hurt a soul in your life. If you were different, she'd hunt you down.

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek voiced his similar disbelief. "You think they can help you?"

"Well, why not?" Scott retorted. "They're a lot fucking nicer than you are!"

Derek scoffed and glanced at Olivia before turning back to Scott. "I can show you exactly how nice they are."

"What do you mean?"

Derek gave Olivia a questioning look but she shook her head at him. She didn't want to see her dad with Scott there. Her father and his condition were a private part of her life and she probably wouldn't be able to handle it if Scott reacted badly and said something stupid.

"Go on," she waved at him. "I'll call for an uber or something."

Derek nodded and then he and Scott left the animal clinic, leaving her and Stiles alone.

Olivia sighed heavily, the adrenaline from the whole situation wearing off and leaving her tired.

"Uh, I can take you home if you want," Stiles spoke up, gaining her attention.

Olivia looked up at him, watching as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. His eyes met hers for a few seconds, the whiskey brown strangely calming her down, and then they flickered away.

"Um, sure," Olivia cleared her throat. "Thanks."

"No problem," Stiles said, watching as she looked around the exam room and grabbed a mop from the corner. "Um…what was Derek going to show Scott? Do you know?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded and wet the broom so she could clean up Derek's vomit. "He's showing him my dad."

"Your dad?"

"He was in the fire," Olivia explained quietly.

Stiles could tell that she really didn't want to talk about her dad and he didn't want to push her. If Derek wanted to show Scott her father to see how bad the Argents were, that meant that they were somehow connected to the fire.

"The Argents set the Hale house on fire?"

Olivia sighed and set the mop down, resting her forehead against the top of the handle. Stiles was surprised to see tears wetting her eyes. "Yes. Well, Kate Argent did," she corrected herself. "We don't know if anyone was involved."

Stiles didn't understand how Olivia wasn't a mess right now. The woman who murdered her mother, family, and injured her father was back in town and she almost murdered one of the last members of her father's family she had left. If it was Stiles in this situation, he'd be inconsolable.

It made Stiles fall for the girl in front of him even more. She was so strong.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, feeling ashamed. If he had known, he wouldn't have made such a big deal about helping Derek today.

"It's okay, there's no need to apologize," Olivia waved him off, having collected herself. "Usually the Argents follow their code or whatever. But Kate's ruthless—she didn't care that there were kids in that house or that there were humans."

"Livvy—"

"It doesn't matter how nice the Argents seem to be," Olivia said firmly, her eyes hardening as she thought about what Scott said. "Kate killed my mom. There's not a nice bone in her body."


	5. Attack of the Alpha

"Look, _Hoosiers_ is not only the best basketball movie ever, it is the best sports movie ever," Jackson declared, glancing between Lydia and Olivia as he tried to convince them to watch his movie pick.

"Uh, excuse me?" Olivia looked up from her phone to raise an eyebrow at Jackson. "_High School Musical_ is the best basketball movie. _Go Wildcats_."

Jackson rolled his eyes and gave Lydia his full attention.

The redhead instantly denied him. "No."

"It's got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper," Jackson added, hoping that would convince her. Lydia was a sucker for gorgeous guys.

Lydia shook her head. "No."

"Lydia, I swear to God you're gonna like it."

"No."

"I am not watching _The_ _Notebook_ again!" Jackson said strongly. He had watched that damn movie almost twenty times since he started dating Lydia. If he had to watch it again, he'd probably do something drastic.

"We're watching _A Walk to Remember_," Olivia said, popping her head in between the couple. "Remember? It's my turn to pick."

Lydia pursed her lips and then nodded. "Fine. _A Walk to Remember_."

Jackson scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

Olivia and Jackson left Lydia's Beetle and walked into the town's only video rental store. Like most nights, the store was completely empty—most of the people in town preferred to rent from Amazon or YouTube than to go to an actual store and pick out what movie they wanted. Jackson and Lydia couldn't relate.

Olivia pursed her lips and looked down the aisles, trying to find where the romance section started. Jackson followed her, aimlessly looking from movie to movie to see if something caught his attention.

"Can somebody help us find _A Walk to Remember_?" Jackson called loudly as he split from Olivia, looking around for an employee. "Hello? Is anybody working here?"

Olivia beamed and grabbed the movie from shelf, waving it over her head so Jackson could see. "I found it, Jax. Let's get out of here."

Jackson sighed in relief and they both turned to go to the register, only to find it empty. "You've got to be kidding me."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "They're probably in the back or something," she told Jackson, turning around to get a good look at the store. There was a ladder set up in the middle of two rows, a florescent light balancing on one of the steps with the light overhead flickering ominously. "I'll go see if someone's there."

Jackson nodded, still annoyed, and grabbed the movie from Olivia's grasp, setting it on the counter in front of him along with a pack of Twizzlers for Olivia and Skittles for him and Lydia.

Olivia walked down the aisle, passing rows of horror movies organized in alphabetical order. She stopped in the middle, her eyes narrowing when she saw shoes laying on the ground haphazardly, a few feet in front of her.

Goosebumps popped up on her skin all over her body as she drew nearer.

_I don't have a good feeling about this_, she thought to herself.

Olivia let out a short scream when she saw the body of the store employee propped up against one of the shelves. His glasses were askew and his shirt was heavily stained with the blood that poured from his slit throat.

"Olivia?" Jackson called, slightly panicked, and ran over to her.

Olivia couldn't speak, her sight becoming blurry with the onset of her tears. Jackson gasped when he saw the dead body and grabbed her around the waist, backing both of them up into the ladder behind them.

The ladder tipped over and the light above it came down with it, sparking and causing the other lights to flicker on and off.

Once the two teenagers gained their footing back, Olivia came to her senses. She had to survive for the moment, she could freak out later.

Realizing that it was probably the alpha who killed the store employee and was hanging out somewhere close, she grabbed Jackson's arm and looked at him urgently.

"Let's get out of here," she whispered sharply.

Jackson nodded in agreement, the both of them turning to run out of the store.

They stopped in their tracks, not being able to take one step, when they saw a dark animalistic shadow in front of them. Red eyes gleamed sharply as the lights flickered on and off and the alpha started snarling deep in its throat.

As Jackson gasped, Olivia tugged on his arm, bringing him into a crouch next to a shelf of movies. She knelt next to him, pressing her finger to her lips to tell him not to make a sound. Jackson nodded.

She hated seeing the fear in her friend's eyes all because of this stupid alpha.

Olivia ducked her head out of the row, trying to see if the alpha was still in the store. Unfortunately, the werewolf sped in the aisle a few rows down from them, making her gasp and flinch back.

Jackson let out a heavy breath and Olivia shook her head frantically as she heard movies start to fall to the floor at the front of the store. She ducked her head out once again but flinched back when the shelves started to fall into one another like a set of dominos.

"Go!" she urged Jackson as the shelf ahead of theirs started falling.

They attempted to jump out of the row they were hiding in but were trapped when the heavy shelf fell on their backs.

Olivia groaned loudly next to Jackson when the wood slammed against her lower back, pushing her into the floor. Jackson was stuck too, and that worried her, but the pain she was experiencing was almost too much to allow her to concentrate.

Jackson fidgeted next to her, trying to free himself of the shelf on top of him but abruptly froze when he saw the shadow of whatever was attacking them. Olivia froze, seeing the same shadow that Jackson had spotted.

The shelf on them got heavier as the alpha climbed on top of it and crawled over to Jackson, coming to a stop right over his back. Olivia didn't dare move and neither did Jackson as the alpha pulled down the neck of his leather jacket to check out the scratches Derek made on the back of his neck.

And then the weight was gone as the alpha retreated, running out of the store. It crashed through the front window tearing a frightened scream from Lydia's throat as it sped past her.

Stiles quickly unwrapped his cheeseburger with one hand, digging into the diner to-go bag with another to search for his curly fries. His dad hummed from the seat next to him as he bit into his own burger.

"Hey, did they forget my curly fries?" Noah asked, watching with slight envy as Stiles popped a curly fry into his mouth.

"You're not supposed to eat fries," Stiles reminded his dad of his declining health. "especially the curly ones."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm carrying a lethal weapon," he said stubbornly. "If I want the curly fries, I _will have_ the curly fries."

Stiles pursed his lips and gave his father an annoyed expression as he grabbed his soda from the drink holder next to him. "If you think getting rid of contractions in all your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, _you are_ wrong."

Noah narrowed his eyes at Stiles but Stiles just chuckled and took a long sip of his soda.

Loud static came from Noah's radio before a man's voice was heard. "_Unit one, do you copy?"_

Stiles excitedly jumped in his seat and reached for the radio, only for Noah to slap his hand away.

As Noah pointedly cleared his throat, Stiles muttered, "Sorry."

When Stiles backed off and stuffed some fries in his mouth, Noah grabbed the radio and held it to his face. "Unit one, copy."

"_Got a report of a possible 1-8-7_," the dispatch reported.

Stiles whipped his head toward his dad, a lone fry falling from his mouth. "A murder?!"

Back at the video store, Olivia sat on a gurney in the back of an ambulance. She winced as one of the paramedics prodded at her lower back where she had already started to bruise.

"Did that hurt?" the paramedic asked softly, noticing the movement. Olivia nodded. The paramedic nodded and prodded slightly above the bruised area. "What about here?"

Olivia nodded again, a grimace painting across her features.

The paramedic nodded and gave Olivia a comforting pat on her shoulder before lowering the back of her shirt. Turning away from her patient, she dug through one of the metal cabinets and pulled out an orange bottle of medicine almost identical to the one she gave Lydia."

"Here," the woman handed the pills to Olivia. "Those are for the pain, okay? Only take one at a time, five hours apart."

Olivia nodded, reading the label. _Hydrocodone_. "Yes, ma'am."

The paramedic nodded, satisfied, and grabbed some gauze and antiseptic cream. "Let's get that cleaned up," she gestured to the cut on Olivia's forehead.

Olivia reached up and touched it, not even aware that she had a cut. She looked at her bloody fingertips thoughtfully.

_That's why my head hurts. _

Once her forehead was stitched up and the paramedic gave her the all-clear, Olivia joined Lydia at the end of the cab, a shock blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Lydia grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, silently comforting the younger girl.

Olivia sighed heavily and, ignoring the pain in her back, leaned her head on Lydia's shoulder.

The whoop of a siren made her jump as another police car pulled up to the scene, driving past the spectators gathered to see what was going on. Jackson was already talking to a deputy as Sheriff Stilinski got out of his cruiser and walked up to the three of them.

"Why the hell can't we just go home?" Jackson asked him harshly, not allowing him to get a word in. "We're fine."

"I hear ya," Sheriff Stilinski tried to placate the angry lacrosse captain. "but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just wanna make sure you don't have a concussion."

Jackson gritted his teeth and Olivia could see him clenching his jaw. "What part of _we're fine_ are you having a problem grasping? I wanna go home."

"And I understand that."

"No, you don't understand!" Jackson retorted, fuming. "Which kind of blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you! I want to go home!"

"Jackson, please!" Olivia exclaimed breathlessly, rubbing her temples as her head started pounding.

She wanted to get out of here, too, but her aunt wasn't at the scene yet to release her and Lydia and she didn't think that shouting at the sheriff was going to get them home any quicker.

"Woah, is that a dead body?" a familiar voice called out from Sheriff Stilinski's car.

Olivia noticed Stiles standing by the passenger side of the cruiser and looked to where he was pointing. The paramedics from the other ambulance rolled a gurney out of the store, carrying a black body bag that Olivia just knew the store employee was in.

She gulped and lowered her head as Lydia squeezed her hand in a death grip.

Sheriff Stilinski sighed heavily and held up his hands, getting the crowd to back away from the scene. "Back up, back up."

"Um, hey, Olivia."

Olivia lifted her head, hoping that the body was in the ambulance, to face Stiles. He was looking at her worriedly, scratching the back of his neck like he usually did whenever he was feeling awkward.

Most of Olivia hated that he was here to see her so vulnerable but there was a tiny part of her that was relieved to see him.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly. "Did you see the—"

"Those are my girls!" Olivia heard her aunt declare to a deputy a few feet behind them. "I'm Natalie Martin, Lydia's mother and Olivia's guardian."

Sheriff Stilinski glanced at Olivia and Lydia before waving her over and nodding at the deputy.

"Mrs. Martin," he greeted her formally, stopping her a foot away from Olivia and Lydia. "If at all possible, I'd like to ask Olivia and Lydia some questions."

Natalie huffed impatiently, wanting to get to her daughter and niece. "I'll bring them in tomorrow. If you'll excuse me."

Stiles stepped away from the Martin girls as Natalie approached them, feeling his worry lift when Olivia gave him a small smile over her aunt's shoulder.

"Just a friendly reminder," Mr. Harris announced as he slowly walked through the chemistry lab, glaring down at his students. "parent-teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a 'C' average are required to attend."

Stiles rolled his eyes and continued marking his textbook with a bright yellow highlighter, glad that he was earning a 'B' or above in all of his classes.

"I won't name you because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment," Mr. Harris continued, stopping right next to Stiles' desk. "Has anyone seen Scott McCall and Allison Argent?"

Stiles looked up, the highlighter cap between his lips, and saw Mr. Harris staring down at him. He shook his head minutely; he had no idea where Scott and Allison were.

The classroom door opened then, and Jackson came in, looking tired and pale with dark circles under his eyes. Everyone stopped and stared as he walked to an empty lab table and sat down without a word.

"Jackson," Mr. Harris walked over to him, patting him on the back. "if you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know."

Jackson nodded, looking uncomfortable with the teacher's attention on him.

Mr. Harris nodded and turned away, heading toward the front of the class. "Everyone start reading chapter nine," he ordered. As Stiles started highlighting his book again, he added, "Mr. Stilinski, try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a coloring book."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at his asshole teacher and tilted his head back, spitting the highlighter cap out of his mouth and catching it easily. He capped the highlighter and set it on his desk before looking in front of him where Danny was sitting.

Danny, who had homeroom with Olivia Martin, who had not shown up for chemistry class.

"Hey, Danny," he greeted him, leaning forward in his seat. "can I ask you a question?"

"No."

"Well, I'm going to anyway," Stiles persisted much to Danny's annoyance. "Uh, did Olivia show up in your homeroom today?"

Danny sighed. "No."

Stiles frowned, worried about the petite brunette. "Can I ask you another question?"

Danny shook his head. "The answer's still no."

"Does anyone know what happened to her, Lydia, and Jackson last night?" Stiles asked bluntly.

He hadn't gotten to actually speak to Olivia the night before and he was worried about her. He didn't know how that guy died, what happened in that shop, or what injuries she sustained. His dad wouldn't tell him anything, much to his intense frustration.

And, of course, Scott didn't give him anything, either.

Danny hesitated for a few seconds before reluctantly admitting, "He wouldn't tell me."

Stiles raised an eyebrow at him. "But he's your best friend," he pointed out, causing Danny to give him an annoyed glare. "Okay, one more question."

"_What_?"

"Do you find me attractive?" Stiles asked, ignoring Danny's exclamation as he leaned forward in his lab stool.

Danny didn't get to answer—not that he would—because Stiles had leaned too far. He fell off his stool and onto the floor, jumping up right away. He spastically looked around, hoping that no one had seen his shame, and sheepishly sat back down.

"And what do you think attacked you in that store?" Sheriff Stilinski kindly asked Olivia, who sat at the other side of his desk with her aunt beside her.

Sheriff Stilinski had already questioned Jackson and Lydia, so she was last to go. They weren't in any trouble—Sheriff Stilinski made sure they all knew that—but the police still needed to ask questions and get their written witness statement.

"A mountain lion," Olivia answered dutifully, knowing that was what Lydia and Jackson reported.

She just wanted to be done with this whole thing. She hoped that Derek would get Scott to help him find the alpha because this situation was getting out of hand. Not only was Laura dead, but so were two other people. It was a disaster.

And now Jackson and Lydia were involved and that was the last thing she wanted. She loved them and didn't want them in the line of fire. The alpha, whoever they were, knew about them now. Who knows what would happen next?

Sheriff Stilinski nodded and wrote down Olivia's answer before flipping through the file they had on her. "All right," he sighed. "we have pictures of your bruises for the record and your statement. I think you're good to go, Olivia. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Of course, Sheriff," Olivia said politely, shaking the hand he held out to her.

"You'll call if there's any progress?" Natalie added, shaking his hand as well.

"Of course, Mrs. Martin," Sheriff Stilinski assured her before looking back at Olivia. "I hope you and Lydia feel better."

Olivia gave him a thankful smile and allowed her aunt to lead her out of Sheriff Stilinski's office. She couldn't believe that he was Stiles' dad. The cool, calm, and collected guy in there didn't seem anything like the spastic, sarcastic, and weird brunette she knew and was sometimes annoyed by.

Then again, she wasn't much like her parents, either. Her dad had been sneaky and narcissistic, though he loved her very much, and her mom—what she remembered of her, anyway—was kind-hearted and soft-spoken.

Now that she thought about it, she wondered why her parents ever got together.

Natalie led Olivia and Lydia out of the police station and once they arrived home, Olivia went straight up to her room. She was ready to take a pill for her pain and pass out for the afternoon.

She took a shower and changed into some pajama shorts and tank-top before wandering over to Lydia's room to check on her.

Lydia hadn't really spoken since the incident the night before and Olivia was worried about her. The only reason she wasn't going crazy was because she actually knew what attacked her and Jackson but Lydia didn't know about werewolves, so she was pretty shaken. Olivia honestly didn't blame her.

She knocked on her cousin's door and opened it when she heard Lydia's loud, slurred reply. Lydia was lying on her bed, checking her manicured nails, her lips pursed fiercely. She turned to face Olivia, her nightgown sliding up and revealing her panties.

"There you are!" she squealed when she saw Olivia, a beaming smile on her lips. She shifted around and patted the space next to her so her cousin could sit. "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking on you," Olivia said, covering Lydia up with her pale-pink throw blanket. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fantastic!" Lydia breathed happily, resting her head on Olivia's shoulder.

"What did that EMT give you?" Olivia chuckled, spotting an orange medicine bottle on Lydia's nightstand next to the stuffed giraffe she gave her. She grabbed it, her eyes widening. "Ah, the good stuff."

"Mhmm."

"I bet you can't say '_I saw Suzy sitting in a shoeshine shop_,'" Olivia dared her.

Lydia sat up and gave her a determined look. "I saw Shuzy," she mispronounced. "I shaw—I saw—"

Olivia stiffened as Lydia stared off into space, as though she was reliving the night before. She placed a comforting hand on Lydia's shoulder and asked, "Lydia, what did you see?"

She really hoped that Lydia didn't see the alpha.

"Something."

"Something like a mountain lion?" Olivia questioned softly.

Lydia nodded and turned to her with a bright smile. "A mountain lion!"

"Are you sure that's what you saw?" Olivia had to make sure.

"A mountain lion."

Olivia sighed and grabbed the stuff giraffe, holding it up in front of Lydia. "What's this?"

"A mountain lion!" Lydia smiled goofily.

"Okay, you're high," Olivia concluded, exhaling heavily. She couldn't exactly make sure Lydia didn't see anything if she wasn't even herself right now.

"I'm gonna go," Olivia told her cousin, standing up from her bed. "You should get some rest."

Lydia nodded and promptly face-planted into her pillow, her soft snores starting up immediately. Olivia shook her head, smiling, and went to leave, when Lydia's phone buzzed with a text message.

Olivia grabbed Lydia's iPhone and gasped when she saw what was already on the screen. There was a picture of the alpha—big, black, and disfigured with red eyes—jumping out of the video store.

_So she did see the alpha_, Olivia thought sadly.

She really wished she could keep Lydia out of all this. It was too dangerous.

Olivia left Lydia's room, keeping Lydia's phone, and went straight to her room. She popped a pain pill and sat on her bed, staring at the picture of the alpha.

What was she going to do?

The final bell of the day rang and Stiles practically sprinted from his Spanish class. It was torture without Olivia there and he was still worried about her. And, with the fact that he hadn't seen Scott at school at all, he was beginning to get restless.

His idiot best friend hadn't answered any of his text messages or calls, either.

He ripped his phone from his jeans and dialed Scott for the third time. Thankfully, he picked up.

"_What_?" Scott snapped at him.

"Finally!" Stiles exclaimed, accidently hitting the person walking down the hall next to him as he waved his arms excitedly. He gave them an apologetic look. "Have you been getting any of my texts?"

"_Yeah, like all nine million of them,"_ Scott answered.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" he demanded. "Olivia and Lydia are totally M.I.A., Jackson looks like he's got a time-bomb inserted into his face, another random guy is dead, and you have to do something about it."

"_Like what?"_

"Something."

It was quiet on the other end of the call before Scott sighed. "_Okay, I'll deal with it later."_

As Scott hung up the call, Stiles let out a groan of frustration.

Shoving his phone back into his jeans, Stiles hustled out of the school. He intended on visiting Olivia to see how she was doing and give her the school assignments she had missed for the day. He knew how important her academics were to her, especially chemistry. He braved Mr. Harris' glare to get her extra work, so hopefully she'd be grateful enough to tell him what happened the night before.

Olivia's aunt answered the door with a bright smile and when Stiles told her why he was there, she perked up even more.

"That's so kind of you," Natalie gushed as she led him up the stairs to Olivia's room. "She didn't say anything but I knew she was worried about falling behind."

"I don't think she could ever fall behind," Stiles chuckled. "I'm pretty sure she's ahead of our teachers."

"Both of my girls are bright," Natalie bragged, the both of them coming to a stop outside the last door in the hallway. She knocked. "Liv, sweetheart, can I come in?"

"Yeah!" Oliva called, shocking Natalie and Stiles by how loud her voice was.

Natalie opened the door, revealing Olivia. She was lying upside down on the end of her bed, the top of her head brushing against the shiny hard-wood floor.

"Honey, Stiles is here to see you," Natalie informed her niece, gesturing to the boy beside her.

Olivia's eyes widened when she saw Stiles waving at her. "Did you know Stiles rhymes with miles, files, and biles? Ooh, and Kyle!"

Natalie chuckled awkwardly as Stiles grinned in amusement. "I'm guessing she had some of her pain medication. You can go on in."

"Thanks," Stiles said graciously, shuffling into Olivia's room and looking around.

Olivia's room was large, the walls painted a light lavender. There were two doors that led to different rooms, a desk, a bookshelf, and a vanity all painted white. A pale-pink area rug was thrown on the hard-wood floor, matching the pale-pink, purple, and navy comforter covering her queen-sized bed. Everything was organized meticulously and there were pictures of Lydia, Jackson, Derek, and others pinned neatly on a cork board above her desk with a large painting of an elephant above her bed. What surprised him most was the whole shelf dedicated to comic books and geeky knick-knacks, which included a Harry Potter wand collection and small replicas of Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer.

If he was honest, he didn't expect this when he pictured Olivia's room. Stiles wouldn't say that Olivia was cold, but he knew how much she kept her emotions to herself. In fact, it seemed like she kept a lot of things about her to herself. He would have never guessed that her room was borderline-girly and she was a huge geek like himself.

It surprised him, but it was a nice surprise.

"Why are you here?"

Stiles whipped back around to face Olivia, who was still upside down, noticing that her eyes were already on him.

"I wanted to see if you were okay," he told her, shrugging off his backpack. "And, uh, I brought you the work you missed."

"Oh," Olivia scrambled off her bed, doing a messy roll onto the floor. She popped back to her feet before Stiles could help her and sat back down on her bed. "Thank you! I thought you came to find out what happened last night."

"Er," Stiles rubbed his head. "Actually…"

Olivia rolled her eyes, sobering up a little. "I don't wanna go over it all because I'm sure Derek will be here soon to ask for the full run-down, but I'll tell you some," she sat against her headboard and patted the space in front of her with her toes, gesturing for Stiles to sit.

Stiles rushed over to her bed, heart pounding because he had dreamed about being in Olivia's bed a thousand times—it wasn't the most ideal situation, but maybe he'd get there soon—and sat down, giving the petite brunette a grin.

"We went to get a movie, _Hoochers_, or—" she shook her head. "No, it was _The Notebook_, I think. I can't remember right now."

"Hoosiers?"

"Maybe, I don't know," Olivia admitted, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "Jackson and I went in the store and saw the dead guy. The alpha came in. End of story."

"That's it?" Stiles prodded, just to make sure.

"I'm pretty sure, Stiles," Olivia said, louder than intended, as she harshly rubbed her forehead, looking upset. "It's all fuzzy, I can't—"

"Hey, it's okay," Stiles said earnestly, leaning forward and pulling her hand away from her forehead. "Are you all right? Your aunt said you're on pain meds. Is it for that?" he gestured to the small butterfly bandage on her forehead.

"Yeah," Olivia gave him a shy smile, looking at her hand that was still in his. For some reason, she didn't pull away. "And a shelf fell on me, so…"

Stiles winced, horrified. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "my back is all bruised up."

"Wow, I'm sorry."

Olivia waved him off.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm more worried about Lydia, to be honest," Olivia admitted. She reached over to her nightstand and grabbed Lydia's phone, handing it to Stiles. "Look what I found on her phone."

Stiles stared at the picture, horrified. That was the alpha? That was what Olivia, Jackson, and Lydia saw? The alpha was terrifying and ugly at the same time.

"Wow," he murmured, handing the phone back to Olivia.

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah."

"I should call Scott," Stiles declared, looking back at the photo. "He'll want to know about this, right? Do you mind if I—?"

"Go ahead," Olivia shrugged. "Here, I'll send the picture to you so I can delete it on here."

"Okay," As Olivia deleted the picture, Stiles pulled his phone out and dialed Scott once again; he got his voicemail. "Hey, it's me again. Look, Olivia found something and we don't know what to do, okay? So, if you could turn your phone on right now, that'd be great."

He huffed and glanced at Olivia, noticing the small smile on her lips.

"Or else I'll kill you," he continued to leave Scott a message. "Do you understand me? I'm gonna kill you. I'm too upset to come up with a witty description about how exactly I'm gonna kill you, but—"

"Tell him you'll hang him by his toes and make him eat dog food," Olivia suggested, giggling to herself.

"That's kind of weird, Livvy, but not bad," Stiles admitted, going back to the voicemail. "Goodbye, Scott!"

Olivia giggled again, her eyes bright. "You sure showed him."

Stiles rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but chuckle. "Shut up."

An hour had passed since Stiles called Scott and they had yet to hear a response but they weren't exactly bothered by it. The pain medication in Olivia's system had waned, so she was more sober than before, and she and Stiles had started debating about math being more than just a way to calculate tips.

"I'm telling you, Stiles, almost everything you do involves math," Olivia declared. "Nurses use it. Scientists use it. Bartenders use it."

"You don't use math to write an essay," Stiles argued.

"It depends on what the essay is about."

"I'm just saying," Stiles raised his hands defensively, liking how he could easily get a rise out of her. "when I'm in the FBI, I probably won't use math except to pay tips."

"You're so frustrating!" Olivia exclaimed. "You know perfectly well that FBI agents use math!"

Stiles snickered. "Yeah, I do."

"That's what I thought—wait," she gave him a suspicious look. "are you messing with me?"

Stiles grinned. "You look very cute when you're angry."

Olivia gaped at him, a little amused—just a little—and grabbed the throw pillow next to her, whipping it at him. "Stiles!"

When Stiles laughed, catching the pillow before it hit his face, she couldn't help but join in.

A knock sounded from her door, causing them to calm down, and Natalie popped her head in. Sirius, Lydia and Olivia's corgi puppy, ran into the room and hopped onto the bed.

"Hey, sweetheart," she smiled, happy to see the bright look in her niece's eyes. "I'm heading to your parent-teacher conferences."

"Okay," Olivia smiled and stroked Sirius' back as he snuggled into her lap. "Tell Uncle Thomas I said hello."

"I will," Natalie grimaced, thinking about her ex-husband. "Stiles, are you staying?"

"Uh," Stiles looked at Olivia, who nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind."

"No problem," Natalie smiled again. "Liv, order pizza if you get hungry. Lydia's still sleeping but make sure you get her something."

"Okay, Aunt Nat," Olivia waved. "Bye."

Natalie waved back and shut the door again.

"So," Stiles turned to the puppy in Olivia's lap. "Who's this?"

"This is Sirius," Olivia grinned. "Lydia wanted to name him Prada but she relented when I suggested Sirius. She said he was, indeed, a star."

"Sirius Black is my favorite _Harry Potter_ character," Stiles commented, reaching forward to pet Sirius. His golden hair was so soft and fluffy it made him want to cry with joy.

Olivia beamed. "That's Lydia's favorite, too."

Stiles grinned back at her. "How old is he?"

"Almost a year."

Stiles' phone started ringing, the main theme from _Star Wars_, which startled Sirius. He apologized as the puppy yelped and jumped off Olivia's bed to cuddle up on the dog pillow in the corner.

"He startles easily."

"Sorry," Stiles saw that it was his dad calling him. He groaned and answered the phone. "Hey, Dad."

"_Hey, where are you?"_

"I'm at Olivia's house."

There was a pause, as though Noah couldn't believe what Stiles was saying. "_Olivia Martin?"_

"Why do you say that with such surprise?" Stiles asked, a little offended.

His dad knew how much he liked Olivia but did he think Stiles wouldn't have a shot with her?

"_What? No, no, I'm not surprised_," Noah said quickly. "_Anyway, please tell me I'm gonna hear good news at this parent-teacher thing tonight."_

"Eh, that depends on how you define good news," Stiles grimaced.

Noah sighed. _"I define it as you getting straight 'A's' with no behavioral issues."_

"Well, you might wanna rethink that definition," Stiles admitted. His grades were fine, of course, but he had some work to do in the behavioral department.

"'_Nuff said_," Noah said and Stiles could tell he was rolling his eyes. "_Get home before curfew, got it?"_

"Yes, sir."

"_Bye_."

Stiles sheepishly looked back at Olivia after he hung up. "Sorry, that was my dad."

"It's fine," she waved him off. "So, did you want to study, or…?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could help me out," Stiles grabbed his backpack and pulled out the files he snuck from his dad's office about the video store victim and the bus driver.

Olivia took them, reading over the names. "You stole these?"

"Stole, borrowed, same thing," Stiles shrugged. "I was going to try to see how they're connected."

"Like why the alpha went after both of them?"

"Exactly," Stiles nodded, seeing the small grimace on her face. "You don't have to, though. I know it might be hard."

She had seen the store employee's body, after all.

"No, it's fine," Olivia inhaled deeply. "I want to see how you do your detective thing."

"Well, prepare to be amazed, Livvy."

"Let me tell you, there's plenty to say about Lydia," Mrs. Everett, the English teacher, said, closing Lydia's student file as she faced Natalie and Thomas Martin.

Natalie and Thomas were the typical divorced couple; they fought almost every second they spent in each other's presence. It wasn't pleasant for anyone, especially Lydia and Olivia, who suffered from it the most.

Thomas Martin scoffed. "Did I not predict this?"

"Oh, here we go," Natalie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Total nuclear meltdown as usual."

"What is it?" Thomas asked Mrs. Everett. "Is it her grades, concentration issues, erratic behavior?" he punctuated his question by glaring at Natalie.

"I'm not the one who told her she had to choose who she wants to live with," Natalie snapped at him before facing Mrs. Everett. "As if that wouldn't warp a sixteen-year-old girl."

Thomas shook his head. "Just tell us what the problem is."

"I wasn't aware there was a problem," Mrs. Everett said sternly. "Academically, Lydia's is one of the finest student's I've ever had. Her AP classes push her GPA above a 5.0. I'd actually like to have her IQ tested. Socially, she displays outstanding leadership qualities. I mean, she's a real leader."

"Okay," Thomas looked surprised by Lydia's accomplishments. "How about Olivia?"

"Olivia is a fine student," Mrs. Everett declared. "After Lydia, she has the highest grade point average in her grade, which is amazing considering the fact she skipped her fourth-grade year. Mr. Harris noted that she shows great initiative in all of his classes and has great promise in the sciences. With all she's been through, she's turned out to be a great young woman."

Natalie smiled, glad to know that her girls were doing so well with their academics.

Across the school, Noah Stilinski sat across Coach Finstock, watching as he rummaged through the numerous student files on his desk.

"Stiles, that's right," Coach said absent-mindedly. "I thought Stiles was his last name."

"His last name is Stilinski," Noah sighed.

Coach raised his eyebrows at the sheriff in disbelief. "You named your kid _Stiles Stilinski?"_

"No, that's just what he likes to be called," Noah said. God forbid that anyone knew that Stiles' real name was Mieczyslaw.

"Oh, well, I like to be called cupcake," Coach commented. "What's his first name?"

Noah reached over Coach's desk, brushing off another files from Stiles' and tapped the tab where Stiles' real name was written. Coach gaped at it, his eyes wide.

"Wow, that's a form of child abuse," he said, amazed. "I don't—I don't even know how to pronounce that."

"It was his mother's father's name."

"Wow, you must really love your wife," Coach scoffed.

Noah pursed his lips sadly, reminded of the fact that Claudia was no longer there with him. "Yeah, I did."

Coach got the hint. "This just became incredibly awkward."

"Hey," Noah leaned forward in his seat. "what do you say we get to the conference part of this conference, cupcake?"

"I like your thinking," Coach pointed at him with his lacrosse net pen, opening up Stiles' file. "So, Stiles. Great kid, zero ability to focus. Super smart, never takes advantage of his talents."

Noah furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, for his final question on his midterm exam, he detailed the entire history of the male circumcision," Coach informed him.

Noah shifted uncomfortably, cursing Stiles' ADHD for what seemed like the millionth time. "Well, I mean, it does have…historical significance, right? I mean—"

Coach cut him off. "I teach economics."

Noah sighed, his cheeks burning. "Ah, crap."

"Have you found anything?" Olivia asked, peeking over at Stiles.

Stiles shook his head. "Not really. I mean, the guy used to be an insurance agent before he was a bus driver."

"This guy was arrested for arson a couple years ago," Olivia looked back at the file in front of her. "That doesn't seem to be related, though."

"So we have no idea why the alpha targeted them," Stiles huffed in frustration, closing the bus driver's file.

"Well, sometimes two people don't make a pattern, right?" Olivia shrugged.

"Right, three's a pattern," Stiles agreed. When he caught the curious look on Olivia's face, he added, "One's an incident, two's a coincidence, three's a pattern. It's something me and my dad say…"

"Oh," Olivia grinned. "Clever."

"Yeah, I—" Stiles paused as his phone rang. He scowled when he saw that it was Scott. "Nice of you to finally call me back—"

"_Stiles, it's your dad!"_ Scott said hurriedly.

"Wait, what?" Stiles shook his head. "What about my dad?"

"_He was hit by a car in the school parking lot. Get down to the hospital, okay?"_

Stiles paled considerably, his heart racing. "I'm on my way."


	6. Lessons of Control

"So, you're teaching Scott control?" Olivia asked Derek, leaning her head against the window of his Camaro. "How is that coming along?"

"It would be better if he actually listened to me," Derek huffed, turning down the road that led to the high school. "I told him to stay away from Allison until after the full moon and the first thing he did was go to Allison's house."

"He's an idiot."

"Yeah and he saw the alpha there."

Olivia whipped her head toward her cousin, her eyebrows raised. "Did he really? What happened?"

"He said that the alpha drew a spiral on his window," Derek glanced at Olivia, watching as her mouth slowly opened in shock. "I'm gonna look into it, all right?"

"But, Der, the spiral!" Olivia exclaimed.

The Hale family—and some of the werewolf packs that used to live around Beacon Hills—had always used the spiral to signal vengeance. Did they know who the alpha was?

Did anyone else survive the fire that they didn't know about?

"I know, Ollie, all right? I know," Derek sighed, pulling into the school parking lot. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'm looking into it."

"All right," Olivia sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Just be careful, okay? For my sake."

"I'll be careful," Derek confirmed with a small smile. "I'm glad you're okay, Ollie."

Olivia gave him a bright smile and shut the passenger door. As she walked away, Derek couldn't help but be glad he didn't tell her about his run-in with Kate Argent.

As she walked into school, Olivia dropped her smile into a calm, stoic mask. Like always, she didn't want anyone to see through her. It made some of the people she went to school with think she was a stuck-up bitch, but she didn't really care what those people thought of her. She had Lydia, Jackson, Allison, and Danny—she didn't need anyone else.

She walked into her history class and corrected herself when she saw him sitting at the back of the room—maybe she had Stiles too.

Olivia caught Stiles' eye and smiled sympathetically—she had been worried about him. The night of the parent-teacher conferences, a mountain lion—a real one—attacked the school as all the parents were leaving. In the chaos, Sheriff Stilinski had been hit by a car.

She knew from the text messages she received from Stiles that Sheriff Stilinski was okay, earning only a couple of bruises. She was relieved about his dad but also kind of annoyed that the messages gave Stiles the go-ahead to rant to her about Scott McCall.

Apparently, they were in a little fight.

"Hey," Olivia greeted him, taking the seat to his right. "Feeling any better?"

"You mean am I still seething with impotent rage at my best friend?" Stiles asked bitterly. "Then no. I'm not feeling any better."

"Okay," Olivia sighed. "Well, have you talked to him?"

"No."

"Have you had any contact at all?" she prodded. "Did you play _Call of Duty_ or something with him? Text him? Send him a message in a bottle?"

"No, no, and really?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at her. "A message in a bottle would never arrive at his house. It's nowhere near the ocean or any river."

"Okay, smartass," Olivia rolled her eyes, causing Stiles' lips to twitch. "Honestly, Stiles, I don't—"

"No, no," Stiles interrupted her, pointing at her. "You can't take his side, okay? I need someone on my side."

"I'm not on anyone's side."

"You were going to say that it wasn't Scott's fault."

"Well—"

"Nope, I'm not listening to you anymore," Stiles shook his head. "You're cut off."

"Oh, no," Olivia griped sarcastically. "What will I ever do without Stiles Stilinski in my life?"

"Die probably."

Stiles stopped speaking then because Scott walked into the room. Olivia watched as his eyes immediately fell on Stiles; she turned back to the spastic boy next to her as Scott sat down behind him. Stiles looked aggravated and uncomfortable, sitting straight in his seat and staring at the board at the front of the room.

"Still not talking to me?" Scott asked him quietly, though it was loud enough that Olivia could still hear.

She tried not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't resist looking at Stiles to see his reaction.

Scott sighed when he got no response. "Can you at least tell me if your dad's okay?" he asked. "It's just a bruise right? Some soft tissue damage? Nothing that big…"

Stiles narrowed his eyes, irritated, and clenched his jaw, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue so he wouldn't lash out at his best friend.

"You know I feel really bad about it, right?" Scott continued. With no response, he sighed again. "Okay, what if I told you that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out and that I went to Derek for help?"

Stiles looked at Olivia to see if Scott was telling the truth. When she nodded in confirmation, he exhaled heavily.

"If I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him," he grumbled, ignoring the glare Olivia sent him. "but obviously, I'm not talking to you."

Olivia rolled her eyes, knowing what Scott told him was enough to pique his interest. Stiles didn't trust Derek, that much was clear, so there was no way he'd allow his best friend to get help from the older werewolf.

As if proving her right, Stiles turned around to face Scott. "What'd he say?"

The bell rang, so Scott couldn't give Stiles details about Derek's lessons. As soon as class was over, though, he told Stiles and Olivia—which surprised him—what Derek was planning.

"What?" Stiles exclaimed as the three of them walked out of class together. "He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?"

"Yeah," Scott confirmed.

"All right, well, correct me if I'm wrong, but every time you do that, you try to kill someone," Stiles reminded his best friend. "and that someone's usually me."

"I know," Scott agreed. "That's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me. I have to be able to control it."

"Well, how's he gonna teach you to do that?"

"I don't know," Scott shook his head.

"Derek uses anger as an anchor," Olivia spoke up, causing the boys to jump in shock.

They might have forgotten she was walking with them.

"An anchor?" Stiles gave her a confused look.

"Yeah, it's something or someone that anchors you to yourself," Olivia informed them. "Something that keeps you human. Anger is Derek's anchor. That's why he wants you to get angry, Scott."

"But how is Scott gonna control himself when he's so angry?" Stiles asked, trying to wrap his mind around Derek's thinking. "He changes when he's angry."

Olivia shrugged; she had no idea how to calm down an out-of-control werewolf. She didn't exactly have experience, being human and all.

"Okay," Stiles sighed, turning to Scott. "when are you seeing him again?"

Scott shrugged. "He told me not to talk about it. I have to act normal and get through the day."

Stiles held out his arm in front of Scott, stopping him in his tracks. "When?"

"He's picking me up at the animal clinic after work."

"After work," Stiles repeated under his breath. "Well, that gives me to the end of the school day, then."

"To do what?" Olivia gave him a curious look.

"To teach Scott myself."

"The what of who?" Lydia asked Allison, piercing a blueberry with her fork.

Allison, who had been telling Olivia and Lydia about something her aunt showed her on the internet, looked back up from her old book that gave details about her family history.

"_The Beast of Gevaudan_. Listen," Allison said, starting to read a passage from the book. "_A quadruped wolf-like monster, prowling the Auvergne and South Dordogne areas of France during the year 1764 to 1767. La Bete killed over a hundred people, becoming so infamous that the King Louis the 15__th__ sent one of his best hunters to try to kill it_."

Olivia shivered and laid her head on her propped-up hand. Did this mean that Kate was trying to tell Allison about the family business? If so, this wasn't good…

"Boring," Lydia drawled, plopping another blueberry in her mouth.

"_Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan—"_ Allison started reading again but was interrupted by Lydia.

"Still boring."

"Lydia," Olivia nudged her cousin with her elbow before nodding at Allison to continue.

Allison gave her a thankful smile. "_Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of a hoofed predator, possibly a mesonychid_."

"Slipping-into-a-coma bored," Lydia groaned.

"_While others believed it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape-shift into a man-eating monster."_

Olivia winced and asked, "Does any of this have anything to do with your family?"

Allison nodded and continued reading, _"It is believed that La Bete was finally trapped and killed by a renown hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature_," she looked at Olivia and Lydia with a smile. "His name was Argent."

Lydia was unimpressed. "Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?"

"Not just a big wolf. Take a look at this picture," Allison corrected the redhead. She held up the page she turned to, allowing the girls to see the drawing of La Bete. "What does it look like to you?"

Olivia was surprised by the drawing, which looked exactly like the alpha she had seen the other day. It was almost like the author of the book was there in the video store with her and took the time to snap a photo.

"Olivia? Lydia?" Allison called her friends' names, seeing the almost-dazed looks they were giving the picture.

Olivia shook her head as Lydia snapped, "It looks like a _big wolf_," she grinned and stood up. "See you in history."

As she walked away, her heels clicking against the linoleum tiles, Allison turned to Olivia. "Do you think she's okay?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded, trying to hide how freaked out she was becoming. Allison finding out about her family's history was not good, especially when her freaking boyfriend was a newly turned werewolf. "She's probably just stressed."

Allison nodded, accepting Olivia's excuse and went back to reading about her family history.

A few rows away from them, Stiles and Scott sat at their usual table. Stiles was eating like every other day they sat in the cafeteria, but Scott was hiding. He used Stiles' history book so hide his face so Allison couldn't see him. He was supposed to be staying away from her for right now, at least until he could control his shift.

Stiles glanced back at Olivia's table and then looked to Scott, annoyed.

"I think the book's making it more obvious," he quipped, rolling his eyes. "Besides, she's reading, anyway."

Scott peeked over the top of the orange textbook and saw that Stiles was telling the truth; Allison looked fully engrossed in the book she was reading.

"Did you come up with a plan yet?" he asked Stiles.

"I think so," Stiles took a bite of his apple.

"Does that mean you don't hate me now?" Scott smiled hopefully.

"No," Stiles grumbled with his mouth full. "but your crap has infiltrated my life, so now I have to do something about it," he paused before adding, "Plus, I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek."

"Okay, yeah, you teach me," Scott agreed, his eyes back on Allison.

"Yeah, I'll be your Yoda."

"Yeah," Scott nodded, having no idea what Stiles was talking about. "You be my Yoda…"

Stiles snickered and imitated the small, ancient, Jedi Master, "_Your Yoda I will be_," he laughed and informed Scott, "I said it backward—"

"Yeah, I know," Scott gave him an unimpressed look.

Stiles pursed his lips, annoyed yet again. "All right, you know what? I definitely still hate you," he declared, ripping his textbook from Scott's grasp as he stood up. "Uh-huh, yep."

Olivia didn't want to be out here.

She definitely didn't want to be skipping her Calculus class so that she could hang out at the lacrosse practice field with Dumb and Dumber—also known as Stiles and Scott. But, alas, she had been dragged away from Mr. Baker's room by Stiles, who declared that they needed her expertise to help Scott control his change.

Of course, she suggested going to Derek for help but Stiles just glared at her.

"Okay," Stiles dropped his lacrosse bag and net on the bench as he sat down. To Scott, he held out a black strap with a small monitor attached. "put this on."

Scott grabbed it and studied it with narrowed eyes. "Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?"

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed. "I borrowed it."

"Stole it," Olivia corrected him, crossing her arms over her chest.

She felt a little antsy about missing her math class, to be honest.

Stiles glared at her. "Temporarily misappropriated," Olivia rolled her eyes while he continued, "Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs. You're gonna wear it for the rest of the day."

He emphasized his statement by pulling Coach Finstock's phone out of his pocket.

"Are you serious?" Olivia muttered. "Is that Coach's phone, Stiles?"

"That, I stole," Stiles admitted, giving her a sheepish grin.

"Why?" Scott asked curiously, looking between Stiles and Olivia.

"All right, well, your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right?" Stiles stated; Scott nodded. "When you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."

Olivia had to admit that she was pretty impressed with Stiles' thinking. For not knowing about the supernatural living in this town until a couple weeks ago, he picked up things quickly.

"Like the Incredible Hulk," Scott grinned, looking down at the monitor in his hands.

Stiles shrugged. "Kind of like the Incredible Hulk, yeah."

"No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk," Scott insisted.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "The only thing you have in common with Dr. Bruce Banner is that you hulk-out when you can't control your heart rate," she snapped, ignoring Stiles' amused smile. "Now would you shut up and put the stupid strap on?"

"Fine," Scott grumped, hiking up his shirt to put the heart monitor around his torso. "This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period."

Olivia pursed her lips; she was missing calculus, so she didn't know why he was complaining.

Once Scott had the strap placed around him correctly, Stiles wrapped up his wrists with duct tape behind his back so he couldn't catch any of the balls that Stiles was going to whip at him. Stiles walked across the field where Olivia was standing with the bag of lacrosse balls, his net held firmly in his hands.

"All right, you ready?" he called to his best friend.

"No."

"Remember, don't get angry," Stiles reminded him. "Livvy, the monitor, please."

Olivia glared at him—she was really tired of him calling her that—and opened up the monitor app on Coach's phone.

"I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea!" Scott called out to them.

Stiles ignored him and scooped up the ball that Olivia set on the ground, flinging his net back and throwing it at Scott. The ball hit him right in the stomach, causing him to groan and bend over from the pain.

Stiles laughed in glee as Scott's heart rate rose to one hundred and fifteen. He scooped up another ball and whipped it at Scott, hitting him in the chin.

Olivia winced; that one looked painful.

"Okay, that one kind of hurt," Scott groaned.

"Quiet," Stiles commanded. "Remember, you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, all right? About staying calm."

"Stay calm," Scott muttered as a ball hit him in the shoulder. "Staying calm. Staying totally calm. There's no balls flying in my face—" he groaned as another ball hit him in the jaw.

Olivia watched the rapidly-climbing heart monitor as Stiles threw another ball at Scott, hitting him in the chest.

"Ow, son of a bitch!"

"You know what?" Stiles smirked. "I think my aim is actually improving!"

"Wonder why?" Scott spat angrily.

"Uh, uh, uh," Stiles clicked his tongue mockingly, the heart monitor raising to one hundred and thirty. "don't get angry."

"I'm not getting angry."

Stiles continued throwing balls at Scott, hitting him over and over again. Scott's heart rate continued rising as Olivia watched, growing bored.

_Why exactly am I supposed to be here?_ She thought to herself.

"Wait, wait," Scott begged. "Just—can we just hold—"

Another ball hit Scott in the balls, making a painful groan escape from his lips. He fell to his knees and grunted while the heart monitor started to beep. His heart rate was at one hundred and sixty and rising, which Olivia and Stiles knew couldn't be good.

"Scott?" Stiles called wearily.

Scott didn't answer, grunting again as he ripped the duct tape around his wrist and gripped at the grass underneath him. The beeping from the monitor started to slow down as his heart rate lowered and he resisted his change.

Stiles approached him hesitantly. "Scott?" he said softly. "Scott, you started to change."

"From anger," Scott said, looking up at Stiles and Olivia, who had walked toward him. "But it was more than that. It was like the angrier I got, the stronger I felt."

"So, it is anger, then," Stiles confirmed. "Derek's right."

Olivia made a satisfied noise, causing Stiles to glare at her.

"I can't be around Allison," Scott declared.

"Just because she makes you happy?" Olivia spoke up, confused.

What did Allison have to do with Scott's anger?

"No," Scott shook his head. "because she makes me weak."

"All right, so you stay away from her for a few days, you can do that," Stiles encouraged Scott as they walked to Stiles' game locker.

Olivia had refused to step foot in the boys' locker room, so she had told them she'd meet them in Economics class.

"But is it a few days or is it forever?" Scott replied hopelessly as Stiles put his lacrosse things back in his locker.

"You know, this whole women-make-you-weak thing is a little too Spartan warrior for me," Stiles complained honestly. "It's probably just a part of the learning process."

Sure, Allison made Scott's heart race, but didn't everyone say that love gives you power? Did that not apply in werewolf cases or something?

"Yeah, but you've seen Derek," Scott reminded him. "I mean, the guy's totally alone."

"He's got Olivia," Stiles pointed out.

"I mean romantically," Scott corrected himself. "What if I can, like, never be around Allison again?"

"Well, if you're not dead, that could be a good thing."

Scott shook his head. "I'd rather be dead."

Stiles rolled his eyes; he knew that Scott liked Allison and she was a nice girl and all, but was it really that serious? Her family were werewolf hunters that would literally kill him and all he cared about was the fact that he couldn't be with Allison.

It was a little _Romeo and Juliet_ for Stiles' taste. And he really didn't like Shakespeare.

"All right," Stiles sighed. "you're not gonna end up like Derek, okay? We'll figure it out."

"Okay."

"Come on," Stiles urged, looking at his watch. They had class in a few minutes. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah," Scott agreed, following Stiles out of the locker room. "Something smells terrible in here, anyway."

"Really?" Stiles asked sarcastically. "In a boys' locker room? That doesn't make any sense at all."

Olivia was checking her Instagram feed as Coach walked into his classroom. He set a pile of worksheets on his desk as the bell rang and other students started filing into the room.

"Let's go," he urged loudly. "Sit, sit, sit. We've got a lot to cover today."

Olivia looked away from her phone as someone tapped her desk. She looked up to see Stiles grinning at her as he placed his things at the desk in front of her. No matter how much she wanted to not give him the satisfaction of smiling at him, she couldn't help it.

Stiles' grin grew larger, if that was possible.

"Let's go!" Coach exclaimed. "Quicker."

"Hey, Stiles," Scott called from an aisle over. "sit behind me, dude."

Stiles gave Olivia a reluctant look but nodded, heaving his things off his chosen desk to the one behind Scott. Unfortunately, Allison beat him to the seat and gave him a triumphant smile.

Stiles didn't seem too put out as he sat back at the desk in front of Olivia.

"Hey, so, is Derek involved?" Stiles turned around and asked Olivia, clearing his throat. "You know, like, romantically?"

He wanted to know if werewolves were doomed to be alone forever. He didn't want that for Scott.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"Um, well, it's funny," he scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, Scott and I, were—it's not like that, honestly. I mean, I like girls, so…"

"Okay…"

"It's just—"

"Stilinski, shut it!" Coach called from the front of the room. "All right let's settle down. Let's start with a quick summary of last night's reading."

Greenberg, who was sitting in front of Stiles, put his hand up to volunteer for the summary.

"Greenberg put your hand down," Coach snapped. "Everybody knows you did the reading," he looked around the room, his gaze falling on Scott. "How about you, McCall?"

Scott looked up, having not paid attention. "What?"

"The reading," Coach said simply, walking around his desk to lean against it.

"Last night's reading?"

"No, how about, uh, the reading of the Gettysburg Address?" Coach muttered sarcastically.

Some of the students chuckled, including Olivia. She couldn't help it, she liked Coach's wit sometimes.

"_What_?"

"That's sarcasm," Coach informed Scott. "Are you familiar with the term sarcasm, McCall?"

Scott glanced at Stiles, who smirked. "Very."

Olivia rolled her eyes—from the brief time she had started to talk to Stiles Stilinski, she knew he was very versed in the ways of sarcasm.

"Did you do the reading or not?" Coach asked Scott bluntly.

"Uh, I think I forgot," Scott admitted.

"Nice work, McCall," Coach frowned. "It's not like you're not averaging a 'D' in this class. Come on, buddy, you know I can't keep you on the team if you have a 'D'."

Scott ducked his head, embarrassed by Coach's attention.

"How about you summarize the previous night's reading?" Coach prompted; Scott shook his head. "No? How about the night before that? How about you summarize anything you've ever read in your entire life?"

"I—uh—"

Olivia frowned, sympathizing with Scott. Coach was practically bullying him in front of the whole class—it was like Coach had been replaced by Severus Snape. Usually she liked Coach but he did have his bad moments sometimes.

"No?" Coach continued and Stiles turned around, subtly showing Olivia the heart monitor that Scott still wore, freaking out. "A blog? How about the back of a cereal box? No? How about the adults-only warning from your favorite website you visit every night? Anything?"

Scott shook his head.

"Thank you, McCall, thank you!" Coach shouted, banging his desk. "Thank you for extinguishing any last flicker of hope I have for your generation. You just blew it for everybody. Thanks. Next practice you can start with suicide runs."

And then, as the heart monitor reached one hundred and sixty, it started lowering. Olivia, astonished that Scott calmed down so quickly, studied the new werewolf. With a start, she noticed that he and Allison were holding hands under their desks—she nudged Stiles, showing him.

It looked like Scott found his anchor.

When Economics class ended, Stiles waited outside for Scott after Olivia took off to the library for her free period. He dragged Scott halfway down the hallway in case Coach needed to yell at him some more.

"It's her," he told his best friend.

Scott looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's Allison," Stiles said. "Remember what you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, right? About wanting to protect her."

"Okay."

"Remember the night of the first lacrosse game? You said that you could hear her voice out on the field."

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, so that's what brought you back so you could score," Stiles explained. "And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her—at least, not like how you were trying to kill me. She brings you back, is what I'm saying."

"No, no, no," Scott disagreed, remembering the times that he lost control while making out with Allison. "but it's not always true because literally every time I'm kissing her or touching her—"

"No," Stiles interrupted him. "that's not the same. When you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?"

Scott smiled, looking dazed.

Stiles sighed. "You're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Scott apologized. "sorry."

"That's fine. Look, back in the classroom when she was holding your hand, that was different, okay?" Stiles declared. "I don't think she makes you weak. I think she actually gives you control. Remember what Olivia was saying about anchors? Allison's yours."

"You mean because I love her?"

Stiles nodded. "Exactly."

Scott stopped, surprised by his casual statement. "Did I just say that?"

"Yes, you just said that."

Scott laughed happily. "I love her."

"That's great," Stiles placated him. "Now, moving on—"

"No, no, really," Scott cut him off. "I think I'm totally in love with her."

"And that's beautiful," Stiles agreed, slightly annoyed. He was trying to help, here. "Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out, please? You obviously can't be around her all the time."

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Scott focused. "So, what do I do?"

Stiles sighed, aggravated that he didn't have a plan already. "I don't know yet."

He paced back and forth for a couple of seconds before grinning in realization.

"Oh, no," Scott groaned, recognizing that famous look. Stiles had an idea. "You're getting an idea, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?"

"Maybe."

"Is this idea gonna cause me physical pain?"

Stiles nodded, smirking. "Oh, yeah. Definitely."

An hour later, Stiles and Scott sat in Mr. Harris' classroom, serving their hour-long detention.

After Stiles led a group of guys to believe that Scott had keyed their truck, the guys started beating the new werewolf up. Luckily, Scott controlled his change, but unfortunately, Mr. Harris caught them. Instead of giving the people beating up Scott detention, Mr. Harris decided to give Scott and Stiles an hour for their trouble.

_What a great teacher. _

"Excuse me, sir?" Scott piped up, looking at Mr. Harris. "Uh, I know it's detention and all but I'm supposed to be at work and I don't want to get fired."

Mr. Harris simply stared at him, not at all bothered by Scott's trouble.

Scott sighed and turned to Stiles, whispering, "You knew I would heal."

"Yep," Stiles replied shortly, tapping his fingers on the lab table they sat at.

"So you did that to help me learn?"

"Yep."

"But partially to punish me."

"Yeah, well that one's obvious," Stiles sighed.

"Dude," Scott gave him a serious look. "you're my best friend and I can't have you being angry with me."

"I'm not angry anymore," Stiles admitted. "Look, you have something, Scott, okay? Whether you want it or not, you can do things that nobody else can do. So, that means you don't have a choice anymore. It means you have to do something."

To be honest, Stiles felt like Peter Parker's Uncle Ben. Here he was, giving Scott a responsibility talk.

"I know," Scott nodded seriously. "and I will."

Stiles smiled at him, glad that Scott was going to start taking his powers—and what he could do with them—seriously.

"All right," Mr. Harris spoke up. "both of you, get out of here."

Stiles and Scott grinned at each other, grabbing their things off the table and rushing out of the lab.

"Do you know what your cousin is doing?" Stiles asked into his phone, frustrated and a little angry. He glanced at Scott in the passenger seat as they headed to the school, looking just as irritated at him.

"_No_," Olivia replied, sounding confused. "_Am I supposed to?"_

"I don't know, are you?"

"_I'm not his keeper, Stiles_!" she exclaimed. "_Tell me what's going on or I'm hanging up._"

"Derek kidnapped Scott's boss," Stiles informed her.

"_Dr. Deaton?"_

"Yeah," Scott confirmed, glad that the call was on speaker phone. "He thinks that Deaton's the alpha."

"_Really_?"

"Yes," Scott grunted. "What do you know about it?"

"_Nothing_," Olivia answered. "_Derek said he was looking into something today, but he never contacted me about Dr. Deaton. I don't know what's going on. He really thinks Dr. Deaton's the alpha?"_

"Yep."

"_Well, he must have a reason, then,"_ Olivia maintained.

"Are you serious?" Scott and Stiles asked at the same time, both in disbelief.

"_Well, Derek wouldn't beat up an innocent man_," Olivia insisted. "_Do you want me to meet up with you guys? Where are you headed?"_

"No, we're going to the school," Stiles told her. "Scott's going to call the alpha."

"_Wait, are you serious?"_

"Yep, bye now."

"_No, Stiles, wait—"_

Stiles hung up his phone as he swung into the school parking lot, parking haphazardly. He and Scott got out of the vehicle, walking around the back. Stiles opened the trunk, pulling out a pair of bolt cutters.

"This is a terrible idea," he told Scott bluntly.

"Yeah," Scott agreed. "I know."

"But we're still gonna do it?"

"Can you think of something better?" Scott asked, looking around the empty parking lot.

The school seemed much creepier in the dark.

"Well, personally, I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it goes away," Stiles quipped.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Just make sure we can get inside," as Stiles held up the bolt cutters for Scott to see, Derek pulled into the parking lot. "He's here."

Derek parked his Camaro a few spots away and got out, slamming his door shut. He approached Stiles and Scott, an irritated look on his face.

"Did you seriously tell Olivia about this?" he asked sharply, having gotten a phone call from his cousin just before he pulled up.

"Yeah," Scott shrugged, unbothered. "Where's my boss."

"He's in the back," Derek pointed to the backseat of his car.

Stiles and Scott peaked into the window, seeing Dr. Deaton tied up and gagged, still unconscious from Derek's earlier blows.

"Well, he looks comfortable," Stiles commented, glaring at Derek.

Scott glared at Derek and then nudged Stiles, gesturing toward the school. They both started walking up to the bolted doors but stopped as Derek called out to them.

"Wait, what are you doing?" he asked them, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his leather jacket.

"You said I was linked with the alpha," Scott reminded him. "I'm gonna see if you're right."

Derek didn't object—though the boys wouldn't listen if they did—and they walked to the door. Stiles snipped through the chains around the handles, and they walked in, heading to the main office so that Scott could use the intercom.

"Okay, one question," Stiles spoke up as they entered the office. "What are you gonna do if the alpha doesn't show up?"

Scott shrugged. "I don't know."

Stiles rounded the secretary's desk and located the intercom microphone. "And what are you gonna do if he does show up?"

He turned the microphone on as Scott said, "I don't know."

Stiles pursed his lips. "Good plan."

"All right," Scott sighed. "You said that a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of the pack, right?"

"Right," Stiles confirmed. "but if you bring him here, does that make you part of his pack?"

Scott grimaced at the thought. "I hope not."

"Yeah, me too," Stiles said, placing them microphone in front of Scott. "All right, all you."

Scott cleared his throat and let out a horrendous wail that had Stiles covering his ears. It sounded absolutely horrible.

Scott stopped making whatever noise he was making and looked at Stiles. "Was that okay? I mean, that was a howl, right?"

Stiles bowed his head, cringing at the memory of Scott trying to howl. God, it was horrific. "I—yeah, technically."

God, no, it wasn't.

"Well, what did it sound like to you?"

"Like a cat being choked to death, Scott," Stiles said honestly.

Scott panicked instantly, throwing his arms around in a way that reminded Stiles of himself. "What do I do? How am I supposed to do this?"

Seeing his best friend freak out wasn't fun, so Stiles walked from the desk to behind Scott, resting his hands on his shoulders. "Hey, listen to me," he said encouragingly. "You're calling the alpha, all right? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen wolf. _Be a werewolf_."

"Okay."

Scott took a deep breath and let out a mighty roar. It was amazing and it was so loud, Stiles wouldn't be surprised if all the windows in the building shook from the intensity.

They celebrated all the way out of the school until they came face-to-face with Derek again.

"I'm gonna kill the both of you," he declared angrily. "What the fuck was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it would be that loud," Scott apologized.

"Yeah, it was loud," Stiles agreed happily, chuckling. "and it was _awesome_!"

Derek glared at him. "Shut up."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a sour wolf."

Scott shuffled over to Derek's car, peeking into the back seat again. To his surprise, Dr. Deaton was no where to be found.

"What'd you do with him?" he asked Derek sharply.

"What?" Derek looked at the empty seat. "I didn't do anything."

There was low growling behind Derek and, before he could move, the alpha appeared, piercing through Derek's chest with his claws. Blood spurted out of Derek's mouth as Scott and Stiles looked on, horrified.

As the alpha threw Derek to the side, Stiles and Scott ran to the school, hoping they'd see the next day.


	7. Run for Your Life

**[1x07; Night School]**

Stiles and Scott rushed into the school that they had broken into just moments earlier. They slammed the doors shut behind them, holding then close with firm yet panicked grips.

"Lock it, lock it!" Scott shouted frantically, his heart racing.

Not only did Derek just get thrown around like a ragdoll, but the alpha was still out there, probably waiting to eat them.

"Does it look like I have a key?" Stiles spat at him, his voice shaking from nerves.

"Grab something."

"What?" Stiles asked harshly; there was nothing around that could lock the double doors.

"Anything!"

Stiles inhaled sharply and paused, thinking about the bolt cutters he brought with them. He rose to his feet, locating them a few feet away, laying on the sidewalk.

Scott, realizing what Stiles was thinking, objected, "No."

"Yes," Stiles disagreed.

"Stiles, no, don't!"

Stiles didn't listen to his best friend; he quietly opened the door and slipped out, looking around for any sign of the alpha. He didn't see the ugly werewolf anywhere, so he stealthily made his way down the concrete steps and sidewalk where the bolt cutters laid.

He was just crouching down to pick them up when Scott started banging on the door behind him. Stiles looked up and was horrified to see that the alpha was hanging around by his Jeep.

The alpha lunged forward and Stiles reared back, running back into the school. He threw the bolt cutters into place, locking the door as best as they could.

Stiles panted, his racing heart starting to calm down, and peeked through the window again. Scott followed his lead and they both were relieved and paranoid about the fact that the alpha was out of sight yet again.

"Where is it?" Scott breathed. "Where did it go?"

Stiles didn't answer, searching the school parking lot for any sign of the alpha.

They slowly backed away from the doors and looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

"That won't hold will it?" Scott dreaded.

"Probably not," Stiles answered quietly.

Scott sighed and looked down the dark hallway, the light from the moon shining through the doors on the other end of the school. A distant howling caught their attention and they scrambled, sprinting toward the nearest classroom.

The nearest classroom was locked, so they ran down the hallway until they found a room that was unlocked.

"The desk!" Stiles gestured to the teacher's desk, intending to use it as a blockade.

Scott nodded, taking the other side of the desk that Stiles wasn't occupying. They started to push it to the door, cringing when the metal screeched against the linoleum floor.

"Shh, stop!" Stiles hissed. He tried to think realistically—the alpha was strong. Strong enough to impale Derek through the chest. It could easily get to him. "The door's not gonna keep it out."

"I know," Scott agreed.

"It's your boss," Stiles told Scott, thinking about Dr. Deaton. From the moment Derek arrived at the school with the vet in his backseat, they were screwed.

"What?"

"Deaton is the alpha," Stiles declared. "Your boss."

Scott shook his head. "No."

"Yes," Stiles insisted. "He's a murdering psycho werewolf."

"He can't be!"

"Oh, come on," Stiles snapped. "He disappears and that thing shows up ten seconds later to toss Derek twenty feet through the air. That's not convenient timing?"

"It's not him," Scott argued.

"He killed Derek."

"Derek's not dead," Scott shook his head. "He can't be dead."

Stiles sighed heavily; Scott was in deep, deep denial. And that wasn't exactly a good thing at the moment, especially since they were trapped in the school with no current way out.

"Blood spurted out of his mouth, okay?" Stiles said realistically. "That doesn't exactly qualify as a minor injury. He's dead and we're next."

"Okay!" Scott exclaimed, not wanting to hear anymore. "Just—what do we do?"

Stiles exhaled, trying not to panic again. "We get to my Jeep, we get out of here, and you seriously think about quitting your job. Good?"

Scott nodded and they both walked over to the windows. Scott prepared to open one, but Stiles shook his head.

"They don't open," he informed him. "The school's climate-controlled."

Scott shrugged. "Then we break it."

"Which will make a lot of noise," Stiles countered.

"Then, uh," Scott gulped, looking at Stiles' Jeep to see how far it was. "then we run really fast."

He faltered, looking back at the Jeep. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his best friend's beloved vehicle, seeing that the hood was warped. Had it been that way before?

"Stiles, what's wrong with the hood of your Jeep?"

"What do you mean?" Stiles stopped breathing.

"It's bent."

"What, like dented?" Stiles looked toward his Jeep, trying to spot what Scott was talking about.

"No, bent," Scott repeated himself.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck hap—"

He was interrupted as something heavy flew through the window, glass shattering above them. Stiles and Scott ducked, falling to the floor and covering their heads to protect themselves against the shards of glass falling around them.

Stiles gasped angrily, spotting what was thrown through the window. It was his Jeep's battery.

"That's my battery," he grumbled, scrambling onto his knees.

Scott stopped him. "Don't."

"We have to move," Stiles stated.

"He could be right outside."

"He _is_ right outside," Stiles pointed out.

They both looked back at the Jeep battery, it's wires completely ripped out. Stiles' blood was boiling—hiring a mechanic was expensive!

"Just let me take a look," Scott told Stiles.

Stiles nodded and Scott slowly got to his feet, peeking his head slightly over the window. He looked around, trying to find the alpha. The area by Derek's car and Stiles' Jeep was empty, as was the strip of sidewalk in front of the school.

"Anything?"

Scott shook his head. "No."

"Move now?" Stiles suggested.

"Move now."

They straightened up to their full heights and crept out of the classroom, Stiles giving his battery a sad look. They ended up in the hallway and Scott pointed to the right.

"This way."

"No," Stiles objected, grabbing Scott's arm. "Somewhere without windows."

Obviously the alpha could get to them through a window.

"Every single room in this building has windows!" Scott hissed in frustration.

"All right, somewhere with less windows," Stiles corrected himself.

Scott looked around, trying to come up with a solution. Other than the basement, the locker rooms and bathroom had the least windows. He didn't exactly want to go into a bathroom with his sensitive nose, though.

"The locker room," he decided.

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "Okay."

They took off running down the hall, turning into two different hallways until they reached the locker rooms. They entered the boys', feeling generally more comfortable than if they entered the girls' room.

Scott and Stiles huddled near the back of the room, giving the door anxious looks.

"Call your dad," Scott requested.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "And tell him what?"

"I don't know," Scott shrugged. "Anything. Gas leak, a fire—whatever. If that thing sees the parking lot filled with cop cars, it'll take off."

"What if it doesn't?" Stiles asked, irritated. "What if it goes completely _Terminator_ and kills ever cop in sight, including my dad?"

"They have guns."

"Yeah and Derek had to be shot with a wolfsbane-laced bullet to even slow him down," Stiles reminded him. "remember that?"

"Then we have to—" Scott shook his head, trying to find a solution to their problem. "we have to find a way out and just run for it."

"There's nothing near the school for, at least, a mile," Stiles said realistically.

Scott sighed and bowed his head. He had to admit that the alpha made a smart move by taking out the Jeep battery. Now they couldn't drive anywhere to get away…

"What about Derek's car?" he said, his eyes lighting up.

Stiles nodded, eyes wide in surprise. "That could work. We go outside, we get the keys off his body, ugh," he made a disgusted face at the thought of touching a dead body. "and then we take his car."

"And him," Scott added.

"Fine," Stiles nodded. "Whatever."

Satisfied with their newly formed plan, they started to walk out of the locker room. Stiles stopped in his tracks when Scott raised a hand in front of him, his face turning serious.

"What?"

"I think I heard something," Scott whispered.

"Like what?"

"Shh, quiet," Scott hissed. He listened intently before pushing Stiles back into the middle of the room, having heard someone—or something—walking toward them. "_Hide_."

Stiles looked at a locker and lunged for it, quickly opening up the door to slide inside. Scott protested quietly but hid in a locker, himself, knowing that they didn't have time to find a better place to hide.

Stiles placed a sweaty palm over his mouth to quiet his heavy breathing, looking out the three metal slits in the door keeping him in the locker. The door slowly opened and a man walked in. Stiles cringed into the back of the locker, looking away.

And then Scott and another man shouted, causing Stiles to jump out of his locker.

"Son of a bitch!" the man, who the boys discovered was a janitor, exclaimed in shock.

"Quiet!" Stiles shushed him.

"Quiet my ass," the janitor snapped. "What the hell are you trying to do, kill me?"

Scott and Stiles gave each other frantic looks at how loud the janitor was talking. If the alpha hadn't known where they were already, it definitely did now.

"Both of you, get out of here," the janitor demanded.

"Will you just listen for half a second, okay?" Stiles pleaded, his heart racing.

"Not okay," the janitor shook his head, grabbing both of their jackets and pushing them toward the door. "Get the hell out of here now."

"God, just one second to explain," Stiles said as the man shoved them out of the locker room.

"Just shut up and go!"

As soon as the janitor finished his demand, he shouted as he was forcefully pulled back into the locker room. Stiles and Scott looked on in horror as he was shoved up against the door, his blood spurting across the frosted-glass window.

Stiles cringed at the man's screams and the fact that the alpha was literally in the room with them the whole freaking time.

_Oh my God_, he thought, _we're dead._

As Scott lunged for the door to try to get to the janitor, Stiles stopped him. There was no helping the guy now—they needed to get out of the school if they wanted to live.

"Go," he urged his best friend. "Run!"

Olivia paced the length of her bedroom, rubbing her sternum soothingly. For the last hour or so, she'd been practically choked up, her chest full of emotion. She didn't know what was happening but it worried her.

The fact that Derek, Stiles, and Scott had gone to the high school and hadn't made contact sense, worried her even more. Stiles said that Scott was going to call on the alpha—what if the alpha actually showed up and something went terribly wrong?

It was driving her crazy how in the dark she was. She was so tense she felt like punching something.

There was a knock at her door as Lydia walked into the room, not waiting for an invitation. She was still wearing the outfit she wore to school, intending to go out with Jackson.

"Hey," she greeted her cousin, noticing how anxious she looked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded, coming to a stop at the end of her bed. "I just feel a little weird."

"Hmm," Lydia hummed thoughtfully. "Well, come get food with me and Jackson and you can tell us what's bothering you."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, intrigued. She was always down for food. "Where are you going?"

"That pizzeria down on State Street," Lydia informed her with a smile. "You know, your favorite?"

"That is my favorite," Olivia confirmed. "Okay, let me get dressed."

Lydia nodded and left the room, allowing Olivia to change out of her pajamas. Once she had slipped on some skinny jeans and a sweater, Olivia grabbed her phone and wallet before heading downstairs.

Jackson and Lydia were already outside, standing next to Jackson's Porsche, when she left the house, locking it after her. Lydia looked up from her phone where Allison was texting her as she approached them.

"Scott's late for Allison's study date," she informed her cousin and boyfriend as they all climbed into the car. "We're going to pick her up."

Jackson rolled his eyes and started up the car, pulling out of the driveway as Olivia buckled up in the backseat.

It worried Olivia more than she wanted to admit that Scott hadn't been to Allison's house yet. That had to mean that something was going on, right? Scott adored Allison, he'd never miss an opportunity to spend time with her.

They were only a couple streets away from Allison's house when Jackson called her, putting her on speaker phone.

"_Hello_?"

"Lydia says we're coming to get you," Jackson said without greeting her.

Allison sighed. "_Please don't, okay? I'm sure he's on his way. He's only…twenty-six minutes late."_

"You hear that?" Lydia quipped. "First it's '_he's only twenty-six minutes late'_ and a month later it's '_he only hits me when he's drunk._' Slippery slope, Allison. Slippery slope."

"Oh, come on, Lydia," Olivia groaned—just because Scott was late for one study date didn't mean he was an abusive asshole.

"We're picking you up," Jackson told Allison as they turned down her street.

"_No_," Allison objected.

Jackson smirked as he stopped in front of her mailbox. "Too late."

Allison came up to Jackson's door as he lowered his window.

"Lydia gets what Lydia wants," he told her; Allison smiled slightly and shrugged. "Come on, get in. We can stop by his place and see if he's there."

Olivia's phone buzzed in her back pocket; she raised her hips slightly so she could pull it out of her jeans. Furrowing her eyebrows, she saw that the message was from a number that wasn't saved in her contacts.

Allison's phone beeped at the same time.

"Is that him with the best explanation ever of why he's half-a-freaking-hour late?" Lydia asked sourly, leaning across Jackson's lap to ask Allison.

_**Unknown**__: Meet me at the school—Stiles _

Olivia frowned; had something happened to Stiles' phone? And why the hell were they still at the school?

Allison shook her head, reading her own cryptic message from Scott. "Not exactly."

"They're at the school," Olivia spoke up, gaining their attention. She held up her phone. "I got a message from Stiles."

"Huh," Allison looked at Olivia's phone with wide eyes. "I got the same one but from Scott. They want us to meet them there."

Lydia sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess we're going to the school."

Stiles and Scott had no idea that Olivia and Allison had gotten messages from someone claiming to be them. Currently, they were running for their lives, trying to escape the crazy alpha werewolf on their tails.

They sped down the hallway, spotting a new set of doors in the distance, and slammed their bodies against them. Instead of the doors opening, like they intended, they stayed shut, causing both of them to grunt in pain.

Stiles slammed his body against them again. "What the fuck?"

Scott opened one of the doors as far as it would open and stuck his head out of the small crack. He cursed under his breath when he saw a large dumpster pressed against the doors, keeping them in the school.

"It's a dumpster," he informed Stiles, shutting the door again.

"He pushed it in front of the door to block us in," Stiles stated flatly, unable to believe the way his life was going right now. He slammed his body against the door again, over and over, as his panic flared and threatening to overwhelm him. "Come on, help me!"

"Stop!" Scott pulled Stiles away from the door, knowing that the dumpster wasn't going to magically roll away.

Stiles ripped himself from Scott's grasp and started walking down the hall in the opposite direction. "I'm not dying here," he rambled, rubbing his hand over his buzzcut. "I'm not dying at school."

"We're not going to die," Scott tried to calm him down, though he didn't exactly believe what he was saying.

"God, what is he doing?" Stiles asked, exasperated. "What does he want?"

"Me," Scott said simply. "Derek says it's stronger with a pack."

"Oh, great," Stiles muttered sarcastically. "A psychotic werewolf who's into teamwork. That's fuckin' beautiful."

Scott stopped walking, prompting Stiles to pause, as he looked out the windows to their left. Across the school on top of the roof, was the alpha, watching them patiently. As though it knew it got Scott's attention, the alpha snarled and started running across the roof, headed straight toward them.

They took off running, entering the staircase and heading toward the basement. The alpha crashed into the windows behind them, right on their tails.

Scott and Stiles raced down the hallway that led through the basement, passing the boiler room, the supply closet, and dusty classrooms full of unused desks. At the end of the hall, they hid behind some old lockers, trying to catch their breath.

They heard soft growling as the alpha entered the hallway, slowly walking toward them. Scott peeked around the end of the lockers and ducked right away when he saw the alpha creeping closer and closer to them. He nudged Stiles with his elbow and nodded in the other direction, silently telling him to run.

Stiles obeyed, rushing around the other side of the lockers. When the alpha followed them, they doubled back, heading back up the hallway they ran through earlier.

"All right," Stiles slid to a stop by an old classroom. "we have to do something?"

"Like what?" Scott breathed.

"I don't know," Stiles shook his head. "Kill it, hurt it, inflict mental anguish on it. Something."

Stiles looked around, trying to find something he could use against the alpha. His eyes went to the classroom next to them, the door wide open, and paused. If only they could trap the alpha in there…

He put his hand in his jeans pocket and wrapped his fingers around his keys, careful not to jostle them as he slowly pulled them out. Scott still heard the metal clang against each other and gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing?"

Stiles didn't answer; he threw the keys into the old classroom. The noise of them hitting the concrete floor caught the alpha's attention and, as Stiles and Scott hid behind the door, it sprinted into the room. Stiles lunged toward the door and pressed his body against it, trying to hold the psychotic werewolf in.

"The desk," he urged Scott, pointing to a large desk across the hall. "Come on, the desk."

Scott hurriedly pulled the desk away from the wall, its legs screeching against the tile as he shoved it up against the desk. When the alpha slammed up against the door, growling loudly, the desk ran into the opposite wall, keeping the werewolf in the room.

Scott looked at Stiles in amazement. "He can't—"

Stiles nodded in satisfaction. "All right," he motioned for Scott to climb over the desk. "Come on, get across."

The alpha slammed against the door again, jostling the desk.

"Come on!"

Scott climbed across the desk, grabbing Stiles' outreached hand. Once he was on the other side, Stiles paused for a second. To Scott's disbelief, he started climbing on the desk.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at his idiotic best friend.

Stiles flinched away from the door as the alpha hit it again, snarling at the teenagers.

"I just wanna get a look at it," Stiles explained.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Look, it's trapped, okay?" Stiles reassured him. "It's not gonna get out," he leaned toward the small square window at the top of the door and taunted the alpha, "Yeah, that's right. We got you—"

"Will you shut up?" Scott snapped, annoyed. He knew that the alpha wasn't going to like Stiles' jibes. He'd probably do something insane, like jump through the concrete walls.

"I'm not scared of this thing!" Stiles told Scott before turning back to the alpha. "I'm not scared of you! 'Cause you're in there and were out here. You're not going any—"

Stiles cut himself off as the alpha jumped, breaking through the ceiling with a roar. He winced as the ceiling tiles dented under the alpha's weight and climbed off the desk, running out of the basement after Scott.

"Okay, that was my bad."

Jackson pulled up to the school fifteen minutes after Olivia and Allison got their messages from Stiles and Scott. The three of them—Lydia choosing to stay in the car—got out and looked around.

Stiles' Jeep was parked outside of the school, it's hood messed up. There was no sign of Derek, which relieved Olivia—if there was something wrong, he'd probably be there. Scott and Stiles probably just needed a ride.

"What were they doing here anyway?" Jackson asked, his eyes flickering from Stiles' Jeep to the open doors.

Allison shrugged, following his gaze. "All I got was that message."

"Me too," Olivia added, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lydia leaned toward Jackson's open window. "They lock the doors at night, you know."

"That one's open," Olivia pointed to the doors, the chain they usually used to lock up cut up on the ground in front of it.

Lydia huffed and leaned back in her seat.

Jackson looked at Allison, raising his eyebrows. "You don't need me to state the obvious, right?"

"That it looks like they broke into the school?" Allison scoffed. "No, it's pretty obvious."

Jackson looked at them worriedly. "Do you want me to come with you guys?"

Allison shook her head. "It's okay," she assured him, exchanging a small smile with Olivia.

They started to walk away, but Jackson stopped them—well, he stopped Allison.

"Hey, Allison—" he paused, his lips pursed.

Allison grinned at him. "You have this look like you're about to tell me to be careful."

Olivia narrowed her eyes slightly as Jackson smiled and held out a flashlight to the taller brunette.

"I am," he confirmed. Allison smirked and took the flashlight. "What?"

"That concerned look on you?" she grinned. "I've never seen it before."

"Well, I'm concerned."

"Well, it's a good look on you," Allison giggled. She held the flashlight up to her face to create a spooky look. "Don't worry. We'll be right back."

Jackson nodded. "Okay."

Olivia glared at Jackson as she turned away, following Allison into the school. She couldn't believe them; they were flirting right in front of her and—more importantly—Lydia. It was as if they had forgotten that the Martin girls were right there and could hear their every word.

When had Allison and Jackson gotten so close, anyway?

"What was that?" Olivia asked Allison as the doors shut behind them.

"What?" Allison asked innocently, sweeping her flashlight along the dark hallway. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that conversation with Jackson," Olivia clarified, giving her an annoyed look. "You guys were all giggly."

"Oh," Allison shrugged as they turned down another hallway, seeing no sign of Stiles or Scott. "We talked today. We're friends now, I guess."

"Okay," Olivia hummed, still suspicious. Her main priority was Lydia, of course. She wanted to know if her cousin was going to get hurt by this new so-called friendship. "As long as you're just friends."

Allison scoffed, looking amused at the thought of dating Jackson. "You don't have to worry about that," she shook her head. "Come on, let's go this way."

Olivia agreed, satisfied with Allison's answer for now, and followed her down another hallway. They paused, the dark school freaking them out a little bit, and looked behind them.

"Scott?" Allison asked, turning around. "Scott?"

"Stiles?" Olivia called as they started walking again. "You there?"

"Scott?!"

Olivia shivered and looked around the hallway once more before turning back to Allison. "Let's go check by the pool," she suggested. "Maybe they took a dive."

"Yeah, okay."

They still hadn't found Stiles and Scott and it was starting to annoy Olivia. Why would they message her and Allison to come to the school if they weren't going to meet up with them? It made no sense.

There was no sign of them in the pool room; it didn't even look like they came through there.

Allison's phone rang and she huffed before answering it.

"Hey," she greeted Lydia. "We can't seem to find them."

"_Well, meet back at the lobby_," Lydia ordered, sounding irritated. "_We want to leave._"

"Okay, give us a second and we'll be right there," Allison confirmed. As she hung up, her phone rang again. "Stiles?"

"_No, it's me_," Scott's voice came from the speaker, making Olivia and Allison exchanged confused looks. "_Where are you right now?"_

"Olivia and I are in the school looking for you," Allison told him. "Why weren't you at my place?"

"_Olivia's there_?" Scott ignored her question. "_Where are you guys right now?"_

"On the first floor."

"_Where_?" Scott asked hurriedly. "_Where are you exactly?"_

Olivia froze, hearing the urgency in his voice. Something bad was definitely going on. Stiles and Scott had probably been dealing with the alpha all night and now she, Allison, Jackson, and Lydia were in the middle of it.

Her heart started to race.

"The swimming pools," Allison answered, her confusion turning into frustration.

"_Get to the lobby_," Scott commanded just like Lydia had. "_Go now_."

"Okay, okay, we're coming," Allison hung up the phone. As they ran out of the pool room, she asked, Olivia, "What was that about?"

Olivia gulped. "I have no idea."

They rushed to the lobby, crossing into the large room and coming face-to-face with a frantic Scott and Stiles.

"Why did you come?" Scott asked them. "What are you doing here?"

"Because you asked us to," Allison answered, her confusion rising again.

"We asked you to?"

"We got messages from you guys," Olivia spoke up, giving Stiles a pointed look.

He closed his eyes and shook his head—did the alpha want them here for a reason?

Allison pulled out her phone and showed Scott the text she received from him. "Why do I get the feeling you didn't send this?"

Scott looked at the message and shook his head, his horror growing. "Because I didn't."

"Okay, did you drive here?" Stiles asked loudly, looking between Olivia and Allison.

"No, Jackson did," Olivia said, shaking her head.

If Scott and Stiles hadn't sent them the messages, it probably meant that the alpha did. Which meant that there had to be a bigger plot going on. Why on earth would the alpha go after a bunch of teenagers?

"Jackson's here too?" Scott burst out.

Allison nodded. "And Lydia. What's going on? Who sent this text?"

Olivia's phone rang and as the three others turned to her, she answered Lydia's call. "Where are you?" she asked quickly, wanting to get her cousin and friend and get the hell out of there.

Answering Olivia's question, Lydia and Jackson burst into the lobby. Olivia and Lydia hung up their phones as the redhead and lacrosse captain walked over to them.

"Finally," Lydia sighed, glaring at Scott and Stiles. "Can we go now?"

Olivia went to agree but paused as sound overhead caught everyone's attention. They looked up at the creaking noise and saw that the ceiling tiles above them were dented, as though someone was walking on them.

"Run!" Scott shouted, grabbing Allison's hand and tugging her after him as he took off.

Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, and Jackson were quick to respond. They ran after him, speeding up the small set of stairs that led away from the lobby. As they left, there was a loud crash as the alpha fell to the floor and started running after them.

The six teenagers raced down the hallway, turning left once to avoid the alpha, and continuing on. Scott spotted the cafeteria up ahead and sped up, dragging Allison behind him.

As soon as everyone was safely in the cafeteria, Scott locked the doors, bolting them shut. He turned to the stack of chairs to his left and started to drag some over to the door.

"Help me get this in front of the door," he told Jackson, gesturing to the milk fridge against the wall.

Jackson obeyed, helping Scott push the fridge against the door.

"Scott, wait," Stiles objected, looking around the cafeteria. There was a wall full of windows, for crying out loud. Very breakable windows that the alpha could easily get through. "not here."

Scott didn't listen as Allison cried, "What was that? Scott, what was that?"

"What came out of the ceiling?" Lydia added, equally frightened.

Olivia stepped toward Stiles, looking over at the others to see if they were distracted. Satisfied that they weren't listening, she asked him, "What's going on? Why's the alpha here?"

Stiles sighed. "Scott called the alpha. It showed up and it's been chasing us all night," he frowned, giving her a sympathetic look as he recalled how the alpha killed Derek. "Livvy, he killed Derek."

"What?" Olivia shook her head in disbelief. There was no way Derek was dead. His body wasn't outside of the school, nor was his car. A dead body just didn't get up and drive away. "No, he's not."

"Yes, he is," Stiles said sadly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"No, Stiles, Derek's car is gone, okay?" she tried to get him to understand.

"He wasn't outside of the school?" Stiles asked in shock.

Olivia shook her head. "No."

Stiles sighed in relief. No matter how much he didn't trust Derek—or disliked him, for that matter—he was glad that the sour wolf was alive. Scott would more than likely need more help and he was Olivia's family, after all.

"Okay," he shook his head, focusing on their friends who were piling up chairs to form a blockage against the door. "We need to get out of here."

"How?"

"Guys!" Stiles called to his frantic friends. "Can we just wait a second? You guys, listen to me! Stiles talking? Can we hang on for a second please?"

"Hello?" Olivia shouted, getting their attention.

"Okay, nice work," Stiles clapped mockingly as Allison, Scott, Lydia, and Jackson turned toward them. "Really beautiful job, everyone. Now, what should we do about the twenty-foot wall of windows?" he gestured to the windows like he was a model on a gameshow.

They all slumped as they realized they weren't as safe as they thought.

Allison inhaled shakily and turned to Scott, grabbing his hands. "Can someone please explain to me what's going on because I'm freaking out here and I would like to know why," Scott stayed quiet, trying to figure out what to say. "Scott?"

He shook his head and pulled away from Allison, crossing the cafeteria to lean against a table. Olivia shuffled away from Stiles and over to Lydia, noticing how scared her cousin looked. She took her hand, squeezing it tightly.

When it was clear that Scott wasn't going to talk, Stiles spoke up, "Somebody killed the janitor."

Olivia reared back, Stiles not having told her about the alpha killing someone.

"What?" Lydia asked loudly as Stiles walked up next to Olivia.

"Yeah, the janitor's dead."

Allison scoffed and looked at Scott. "What's he talking about?" she asked him. "Is this a joke?"

"What—who killed him?" Jackson shook his head, trying to understand what was going on here.

It was silent as Stiles nor Scott answered.

"No, no, no," Lydia shook her head frantically. "This was supposed to be over. The mountain lion killed—"

"No, don't you get it?" Jackson cut her off. "There wasn't a mountain lion."

Olivia gave Jackson a contemplative look; apparently he saw more than she thought he did. It made her nervous because, however unbelievable it seemed, Jackson was a smart guy. Even more than that, he was cunning and proactive.

He was a true Slytherin.

"Who was it?" Allison asked loudly, drawing Olivia's attention back to the situation at hand. "What does he want? What's happening?" Scott still hadn't spoken a word, which irritated her. "Scott!"

Scott turned around. "I-I don't k-know," he stammered. "I-I just—i-if we go out there, he's gonna kill us."

"Us?" Lydia almost shrieked. "He's gonna kill us?"

"Who?" Allison demanded, looking between Stiles and Scott. "Who is it?"

Stiles looked to Scott for answers, along with everyone else. He had no idea what to say. He couldn't exactly tell them that an alpha werewolf was after them and—surprise—werewolves are real, by the way.

"It's Derek," Scott blurted. "It's Derek Hale."

Olivia gaped at Scott. Derek was injured by the alpha, off healing somewhere, and for whatever reason, Scott decided to blame all the murders on him? In what world did that make sense? He probably just ruined Derek's life.

She gritted her teeth, fury blossoming in her chest. She couldn't believe that Scott could be so stupid.

"Wait, you're joking right?" Jackson asked harshly, sharing a look of disbelief with Lydia and Olivia. It certainly didn't look like Derek Hale in that store and they had met Olivia's cousin before—Jackson had seen him twice in the last two weeks. He didn't seem like a bad guy. "Derek killed the janitor?"

Allison inhaled sharply. "Are you sure?"

"I saw him," Scott confirmed, though it was clear to Olivia that Jackson and Lydia didn't really believe him.

Lydia shook her head. "The mountain lion—"

"No, Derek killed them," Scott insisted, making Olivia angrier.

He was throwing Derek under the bus to save his ass.

She took a step toward the werewolf, intending to punch him across the face—she wasn't usually a violent person, but it seemed like Scott was egging her on—but Stiles grabbed her arm to stop her. Olivia glared at him but he gave her a pleading look.

His message was clear; they didn't need to turn on each other right now.

"He killed all of them?" Allison gave Olivia a look that was close to a glare.

"Yeah, starting with his own sister."

Okay, Olivia was done. She lunged forward, going unnoticed by Scott and Allison, only to be pulled back by Stiles.

"Woah, woah," Stiles murmured in her ear, his arm warm around her waist. "Calm down, okay?"

"The bus driver?" Allison asked Scott, not listening to Stiles and Olivia.

"I'm not going to just stand here and listen to him blame Derek for the murders," Olivia whispered harshly back.

"Just hold on, okay?"

"And the guy in the video store," Scott added to Derek's growing list of "victims". "It's been Derek the whole time. He's in here with us and if we don't get out now, he's going to kill us too."

Jackson rolled his eyes, still not believing the Derek theory, and turned to Stiles. "Call the cops."

"No," Stiles shook his head, unwrapping his arms from Olivia's waist.

"What do you mean, no?" Jackson said, bewildered. If something was trying to kill them, they needed help. Preferably the police-with-guns type of help.

"I mean no," Stiles said simply. "You wanna hear it in Spanish? _No_," he looked at Olivia and hesitantly added, "Look, Derek killed three people, okay? We don't know what he's armed with."

He didn't want to throw Derek under the bus, but what other option did he have at the moment? Scott had already blamed Derek and he couldn't tell the truth. He didn't want the cops to come to the school and be killed by the alpha. He couldn't lose his dad too.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him and stepped away, burrowing into Lydia for comfort. She had thought he'd have her back. She knew that Scott was Stiles' best friend, his brother, but Derek didn't do anything. He was completely innocent.

Olivia thought that Stiles was going to do the right thing but she was wrong.

Jackson scoffed. "Your dad is armed with an entire sheriff's department. Call him."

Lydia shook her head and pulled her phone out of her purse. "I'm calling," she declared dialing 9-1-1.

"No, Lydia, don't," Stiles objected, stepping toward her. "Would you just hold on a sec—"

Jackson cut him off, pushing him away from Lydia as she pressed the phone to her ear.

"Yes, we're at Beacon Hills High School," Lydia said into the phone, getting the operator. "We're trapped and we need you to—but—" she pulled the phone from her ear and turned to everyone, a shocked look on her face. "She hung up on me."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "The police hung up on you?"

Lydia nodded. "She said they got a tip warning them that there were gonna be prank calls about a break-in at the high school," she explained quickly. "She said if I called again they're gonna trace it and have me arrested."

"Okay, then call again," Allison suggested, hoping that they'd send an officer to the school anyway.

"No, they won't trace a cell," Stiles spoke up. "They'll send a car to your house before they send anyone here."

"What the—what—" Allison shook her head, freaking out. "What is this? Why does Derek wanna kill us? Why is he killing anyone?"

She looked at Olivia for an answer to her last question but the shorter brunette looked away, not bothering to dignify that with a response. Allison turned to Scott, then, expecting an answer.

Scott looked at them, shocked that they were glaring at him. "Why's everyone looking at me?" he asked incredulously.

"Is he the one who sent them the texts?" Lydia asked, taking Olivia's hand again. Olivia squeezed her back, thankful that her cousin was there for her.

"No," Scott shook his head. "I mean, I don't know."

"is he the one that called the police?" Allison prodded, wanting answers.

"I don't know!" Scott shouted, causing Allison to flinch away.

"All right," Stiles grabbed Scott's arm and led him away from the others. "Why don't we ease back on the throttle here, yeah?"

Once they were far enough away from Olivia, Lydia, Jackson, and Allison, Stiles narrowed his eyes at Scott.

"Okay, first off, throwing Derek under the bus? Nicely done," he muttered sarcastically.

"I didn't know what to say," Scott defended himself. "I had to say something and if he's dead then it doesn't matter, right?"

"Yeah, except he's not dead," Stiles countered. "Olivia said there was no body outside. Derek's car was gone."

"Shit," Scott cursed, looking over at Allison and the others, huddled together. "Oh, God, I totally just bit her head off."

"And she'll get over it," Stiles replied, annoyed that Scott was only thinking about Allison. "There's bigger issues at hand here. Like, how do we get out alive?"

"But we are alive," Scott pointed out. "It could have killed us already. It's like it's cornering us or something."

"So, what, he wants to eat us all at the same time?"

"No!" Scott shook his head. "Derek said it wants revenge."

"Against who?"

"Allison's family?" Scott shrugged. "Maybe that what the text was about. Someone had to send it."

"Yeah, but Olivia got one too," Stiles reminded him, wondering how Olivia fit into everything.

"Okay, assheads!" Jackson called, strutting over to them. "New plan. Stiles calls his useless dad and tells him to send someone with a gun and decent aim. Are we good with that?"

Olivia watched as Stiles rolled his head, his jaw clenching. He was obviously angry about Jackson insulting his dad and insisting he called him, but what other choice did they have? It didn't seem like the alpha was going to give up; hopefully a parking lot full of police officers would scare him into leaving them alone.

"He's right," Scott said to Stiles before saying something Olivia and the others couldn't hear.

Stiles replied to Scott, scoffing, and shook his head, turning away from the group. This set Jackson off. He rushed toward Stiles and grabbed his shoulder.

"All right, give me the phone."

Stiles whipped around and slammed his fist against Jackson's cheekbone, sending the lacrosse captain sliding a few feet away. Olivia and Lydia gaped at the spastic boy while Allison rushed over to Jackson.

"Jackson are you okay?" she asked before turning to glare at Stiles.

Stiles shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressing on his dad's contact. Unfortunately, he got his voicemail. "Dad, hey, it's me—and it's your voicemail," he said, causing everyone to deflate. "Look, I need you to call me back now. Like, right now."

A loud bang came from the cafeteria doors behind Olivia and Lydia; they backed away from it, huddling behind Jackson. The chairs in front of the door behind to shake from the force of the blows and some of the screws around the doors were popping out and falling onto the floor with a metallic clink.

"We're at the school, Dad," Stiles said into the phone. "We're at the school."

"Oh, my God!" Lydia squeaked as the milk fridge was pushed a few inches away from the door.

"The kitchen," Stiles stated loudly, trying to be heard over the loud banging coming from the alpha. "the door out of the kitchen leads to the stairwell."

"Which only goes up," Scott pointed out.

"Up is better than here," Olivia declared.

The six of them took off running, out of the cafeteria and into the kitchen. They bypassed the long counters and cooking appliances and located the door that led to the stairwell.

They climbed the stairs as quickly as they could and rushed down the science hallway. Each of them checked classroom doors as they passed, trying to find one to hide in. Finally, Lydia reached Mr. Harris' classroom, which happened to be unlocked.

She rushed into the room followed by the other; Scott shut the door and wedged a chair underneath the handle. They all held their breath as they waited, the alpha slowly walking by the door.

Much to Olivia's surprise, it didn't stop outside the classroom even though she was positive it knew they were there. What was this person's game?

Once they heard the alpha walking away, Scott whispered, "Jackson, how many people can fit in your car?"

"Six," Jackson answered. "but Lydia and Olivia will have to fit on someone's laps."

"Six?" Allison scoffed quietly. "Olivia and I barely fit in the back."

Allison was only seven inches taller than Olivia, so if she had a problem, Stiles and Scott—who were 5'11 and 5'10, respectively—were definitely going to have trouble fitting in the Porsche.

"It doesn't matter," Stiles shook his head. "There's no getting out without drawing attention."

Scott looked around the classroom, his eyes widening when he saw a door next to the chalkboard.

"What about this?" he walked over to it. "This leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape to the parking lot in seconds."

"That's a deadbolt," Stiles pointed to the lock on the door.

"The janitor has a key."

"You mean his body has it."

"I can get it," Scott declared before lowering his voice, telling Stiles something only he could hear.

The two of them debated for a few seconds before walking back over to Olivia, Lydia, Allison, and Jackson.

"I'm getting the key," he told them.

Allison gaped at him. "Are you serious?"

"Well, it's the best plan," Scott shrugged. "Someone has to get the key if we wanna get out of here."

"You can't go out there unarmed," Lydia said quietly.

Scott looked around the room again and picked up a pointer stick. He raised it in front of him like a sword until he noticed the annoyed looks he was getting from everyone.

"What?" he hissed. "it's better than nothing."

Stiles sighed. "There's gotta be something else."

Olivia agreed; they were in a freaking chemistry lab. There had to be chemicals they could use against the alpha. There was acid, of course, but Scott would have to get really close…maybe they could use the acid to make something else.

"There is," Olivia stated, her eyes landing on the chemical cabinet next to Jackson.

Stiles followed her gaze. "What are we gonna do, throw acid on him?"

"No," she glared at him. "A fire bomb. In there is everything you need to make a self-igniting Molotov cocktail."

Stiles faltered, confused. "Self-igniting—?"

"Molotov cocktail," Olivia finished for him, growing impatient. When everyone gave her a confused look—except for Lydia, who knew exactly what she was talking about—she rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, am I the only one who pays attention to Harris' lectures?"

"Probably," Stiles pressed his lips together before gesturing to the chemical cabinet. "we don't have a key for that, though."

Jackson sighed heavily and thrust his leather-covered elbow into the glass, shattering it. Olivia, Lydia, and Jackson gathered the chemicals needed for the Molotov cocktail and brought them over to a lab table so Olivia could get to work.

She had never been so happy to be so intelligent when it came to science.

Olivia mixed up the cocktail as Allison pleaded for Scott not to leave, Lydia and Jackson handing her the chemicals she asked for. She ignored Allison's whimpers as she stirred up the mixture, not bothering to use the correct tools—they were in a bit of a time crunch, after all.

"Jackson, hand me the sulfuric acid, please," she requested, holding out her hand for the bottle.

After a few seconds, Jackson put the bottle in her hand. She poured the right amount into the beaker and swirled it around, mixing the chemicals together. She popped a cork in the mouth and handed it to Scott.

"Scott, just stop," Allison grabbed Scott's free arm. "Do you remember when you told me you knew whether or not I was lying? That I had a tell? Well, so do you. You're a horrible liar," she cried. "And you've been lying all night. Just—just please. Please don't go. Please don't leave us. Please."

Scott hesitated for a few seconds before sighing and giving Stiles a look. "Lock it behind me."

He went to leave but Allison pulled him back, bringing him into an intense kiss. Olivia looked away, not wanting to intrude on their moment. She wasn't the biggest fan of PDA but Allison thought that Scott was going to die, so she understood her need.

The kiss ended and Scott left the classroom; Stiles locked the door behind him, just like he was instructed.

Lydia and Olivia huddled together, leaning against one of the lab tables close to the door. Stiles was standing close by, tapping his fingers against the top of the table, while Allison and Jackson sat together by the door. Jackson had been comforting Allison since the moment Scott left the room and it was beginning to get on Olivia's nerves.

Lydia had been giving the lacrosse captain a sad look but it seemed like he couldn't care less as he rubbed Allison's back, whispering encouraging words. Allison hadn't stopped crying and even that was beginning to irritate Olivia too.

Like Allison, Lydia had no idea who was after them. Unlike Allison, Lydia was holding herself together and staying strong. Olivia knew that the taller brunette was afraid, but so was everyone else.

"I don't get this," Allison whimpered, her voice shaky. Olivia covertly rolled her eyes and looked away, afraid to start an argument. "I don't get why he's out there and why he left us. And I can't—I can't stop my hands from shaking."

"It's okay," Jackson grabbed Allison's hands and held them between his own. "It's gonna be okay."

Allison smiled thankfully at him. "Okay."

Olivia, who's eyes had fallen on the table she used to make the Molotov cocktail, looked at the bottle of sulfuric acid. It was completely full, it's seal still intact. She cursed under her breath and turned to Jackson.

"Jackson, you handed me the sulfuric acid, right?" she asked, hoping she was wrong. "It has to be sulfuric acid. It won't ignite if it's not."

Jackson glared at her. "I gave you exactly what you asked for," he snapped. "didn't I?"

"Yeah," Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm sure you did."

She looked at Stiles and gave him a pointed look, gesturing to the other side of the classroom with her head. Stiles got the hint and, as Olivia detached herself from Lydia, followed her over to an empty table.

"That cocktail won't ignite," she whispered to him, looking around his body to see if the others were listening. It didn't seem like they were. "The seal on the sulfuric acid is still intact."

"Are you saying Scott's out there without a weapon?" Stiles hissed worriedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes," she confirmed, placing a comforting hand on his free arm. "We need to do something. Maybe call your dad again. We can't leave Scott out there."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed, knowing that it was the best option. He had already called his dad anyway, so it didn't hurt to try again. "I can—"

A loud roar echoed through the school, cutting Stiles off. A small ache presented itself in Olivia's head but she was instantly distracted when Jackson started screaming in pain.

He doubled over, clutching the back of his neck where Olivia knew that Derek had scratched him when he was shot with the wolfsbane bullet.

Olivia and Stiles rushed over to him as the alpha's roar died off, Olivia helping Allison and Lydia get Jackson to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Lydia asked frantically, holding onto his hand tightly.

"You all right, Jax?" Olivia added, her irritation with him momentarily forgotten.

"No, I'm fine," he assured them, brushing their hands off of him to step away. "Seriously, I'm okay."

"That didn't sound okay," Allison shook her head.

Stiles studied him curiously, eyeing the hand that Jackson pressed against the back of his neck. "What's on the back of your neck?" he asked, reaching to pull away Jackson's hand so he could get a peek.

Jackson slapped his hand away. "I said I'm fine."

"It's been there for days," Lydia informed Stiles. "He won't tell me what happened."

Jackson scoffed at her. "As if you actually care."

When Lydia flinched away from Jackson and Olivia glowered at him, Stiles stepped up. "All right," he said calmly. "can we not argue for half a second here?"

"Where's Scott?" Allison spoke up, looking at the clock on the wall. It had been close to thirty minutes and there was still no sign of her boyfriend. "He should be back by now."

There was a loud clicking sound and the five of them whipped around to face the door, where the noise originated. There was the silhouette of who they presumed was Scott on the other side.

"Scott!" Allison called, rushing toward the door to bang on it. She tried to open it, but the knob wouldn't budge. "Scott! Scott!"

Scott's shadow grew smaller, as if he were walking away from the door.

"Where's he going?" Olivia asked, bewildered.

Scott was supposed to get them out of there not lock them in.

"Scott!" Allison shouted. "Scott!"

"Stop!" Lydia spoke up shrilly, pulling Allison away from the door. "Do you hear that? Listen!"

They all stopped and fell silent, carefully listening for what Lydia had already heard. The whoops of different sirens got closer and closer, causing them to all sigh in relief.

"Sirens."

They were okay. Stiles' dad came when they needed him to.

"You're sure it was Derek Hale?" Noah asked Stiles and Scott skeptically as they walked out of the school.

It had taken another hour for firemen to break down the door to the chemistry lab to free Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison, and Jackson, and for a few deputies to find Scott in a random hallway. They were all questioned while they waited for their parents to arrive.

Allison told Sheriff Stilinski what Scott had said; it was Derek Hale that murdered the janitor, bus driver, and video store employee. Jackson, Lydia, and Olivia all denied seeing Derek at all.

Of course, due to Olivia's relation to Derek, she was pulled into extra questioning. She was adamant that it wasn't Derek who was murdering people but she felt like the deputy asking her questions took her answers with a grain of salt.

"Yes," Scott nodded.

"I saw him too," Stiles added reluctantly.

"What about the janitor?" Scott asked Noah, wondering if they had found the man's body yet.

Noah sighed. "We're still looking."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "Did you check under the bleachers?" he questioned. He had seen the body there, it's where he took the keys. "Under them?"

"Yeah, Scott, we looked," Noah said, exasperated. "We pulled them out just like you asked. There's nothing."

"I'm not making this up!" Scott exclaimed.

"I know, I believe you, I do."

"No, you don't," Scott shook his head, seeing the look in Noah's eyes. "You have this look like you feel bad for me. Like you wanna believe me but I know you don't."

"Listen," Noah placed a calming hand on Scott's shoulder. "we're gonna search this whole school until we find him, okay? I promise."

"Sheriff!" the deputy who had finished questioning Olivia called for Noah, waving him over.

Noah nodded at him before turning to Stiles and Scott. "Stay, both of you."

Stiles nodded and Noah walked away, heading toward the deputy and Olivia.

"Well, we survived, dude," he said to Scott, feeling grateful that he was alive. It felt like the air was fresher somehow. "We outlasted the alpha. It feels good, right? Being alive?"

Scott laughed bitterly and shook his head. "When we were in the chemistry room, he walked right by us. You don't think that it heard us? You don't think it knew exactly where we were?"

To be honest, Stiles had figured that, but he hadn't really thought about it. He was just glad to get out of the school in one piece. "Well, then, how come we're still alive?"

"It wants me in its pack," Scott said harshly. He sighed, calming down, and continued, "but I think first, I have to get rid of my old pack."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? What old pack?"

"Allison," Scott listed. "Jackson, Lydia, Olivia…you."

Stiles inhaled sharply in realization. "The alpha doesn't wanna kill us…"

"It wants me to do it," Scott finished for him. "and that's not even the worst part."

Stiles blinked and flailed his arms in disbelief. "How the fuck is that not the worst part, Scott?"

Scott's eyes were filled with sorrow as he looked at his best friend sadly. "Because when he made me shift, I wanted to do it. I wanted to kill you," he shook his head. "All of you."

Stiles didn't know how to react. His best friend, since he was a child, wanted to kill him under the alpha's orders. How were you supposed to react when someone tells you something like that? Congratulate them? Comfort them?

He stared at Scott, his mind going a mile a minute, trying to decide what to say. Luckily, Scott was distracted, his gaze falling behind Stiles. Stiles turned, looking at what caught his attention and saw Dr. Deaton sitting at the back of an ambulance.

Stiles scoffed as Scott walked over to his boss and as he turned to find his dad, he saw Olivia.

He made his way over to her, frowning when he saw how upset she was. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, as though holding herself together, and there were tear tracks shining on her cheeks. He had never seen her look so vulnerable, even after she was injured at the video store.

"Livvy…"

Olivia turned to him, her eyes hardening into a glare. "Don't talk to me, Stiles."

"I'm just—" he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, okay? What was I supposed to say? Scott had already—"

"You don't throw an innocent man under the bus," Olivia hissed at him, her cobalt-blue eyes blazing with anger. "You do the right thing."

"I couldn't—Scott—"

"You're not Scott, though, Stiles," Olivia interrupted him. "You're Stiles and you knew that Derek was alive. Now's he's got a warrant on his head again, thanks to you two."

"We didn't have a choice, Livvy," Stiles apologized softly. "I'm sorry, but we didn't."

"You did, you just chose wrong," she stepped away from him. "We tried to help you guys and over and over again, you just…" she shook her head. "just forget it."

"No, no," Stiles shook his head frantically. He was just starting to get to know her for real and he had a feeling it was slipping away just like that. "I'm sorry, Livvy. I am. Let me do something, all right?"

"It's done, Stiles," Olivia said grimly, tears filling her eyes. "Just don't talk to me anymore."


	8. The Full Moon

**[1x08; Lunatic]**

There was a squelching noise as Stiles stepped in a puddle, heading out toward the main campsite on the edge of the preserve, Scott following dutifully after him. Stiles held a bottle of whiskey under his jacket, hiding it from view, intending to get Scott drunk and forget his worries for a while.

It had been a week since the alpha chased them around the school and Allison had broken up with Scott. Scott had spent the seven days at home while the damage at the school was being fixed moping around, and since school was starting back up the next morning, Stiles wanted his best friend to relax.

"Where are we going?" Scott complained as they continued through the campground.

"You'll see."

"'Cause we really shouldn't be out here," Scott stated. "My mom is in a constant state of freak-out from what happened at the school."

Stiles scoffed. "Well, your mom isn't the sheriff, okay? There's no comparison, trust me."

"Can you please just tell me what we're doing out here?"

"Yes," Stiles gave in. "When your best friend gets dumped—"

"I didn't get dumped," Scott corrected him, in deep denial. "We're taking a break."

"All right, well, when your best friend gets told by his girlfriend that they're taking a break—" Stiles grinned and turned around, pulling the whiskey out of his jacket to show Scott. "you get your best friend drunk."

An hour later, the bottle was more than halfway gone. Scott had drunk half of the bottle, feeling no effect from the alcohol whatsoever, and Stiles drank the other quarter. He was now drunk as a skunk and rambling like no tomorrow.

It annoyed Scott like no other—first he couldn't get drunk and now he had to take care of Stiles. When he started the fire to keep them warm, he had to pull Stiles away from it three times to keep him from burning himself. It was like babysitting a damn toddler.

Stiles slammed the bottle of whiskey down on the concrete next to him. "Dude, you know, she's just one girl," he sighed, staring up at the starry sky. "You know, there are so many—there are so many other girls in the sea."

Scott rolled his eyes. "_Fish_ in the sea."

"Fish?" Stiles gave him a confused look. "Why are you talking about fish? I'm talking about girls. I love girls. I love em'."

Stiles giggled, thinking about the girl that always seemed to be on his mind. He missed her so much and even though they'd only started hanging out a month ago, he didn't like being without her.

"I love especially ones with brown hair, cobalt-blue eyes, 5'1…" he slurred, trailing off with a wistful smile.

Scott glanced at him. "Like Olivia?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Stiles exclaimed. "Hey, how did you know I was talking about…what was I talking about?"

Scott didn't answer, causing Stiles to look over at him again. He saw the grumpy look on his best friend's face and frowned. He wanted Scott to have a good time like he was.

"Hey, you're not happy," he pointed out, rolling over to pick up the whiskey. He held it out to Scott. "Take a drink."

"I don't want anymore," Scott's shoulders slumped as he looked into the fire.

"You're not drunk?"

"I'm not anything."

"Hey, maybe it's like—maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore, you know?" Stiles theorized, setting the whiskey back down and rolling onto his back again. "Maybe you can't get drunk as a wolf…Am I drunk?"

Scott looked over at Stiles, noticing his furrowed brows, and shook his head. "You're wasted."

"Yeah!" Stiles drawled giddily, pumping his fist into the air so Scott could bump it. Scott didn't reciprocate and Stiles allowed his hand to fall back on his stomach. "Come on, dude. I know it feels bad. I know it hurts. I know," he paused, remembering that he had never had a girlfriend. "Well, I don't know. But I know this, I know that as much as being broken up hurts, being alone is way worse."

Scott went through Stiles' words in his head and looked over at his best friend, knowing that his statement made no sense. Either way, they were both alone.

Stiles chuckled. "That didn't make any sense," he groaned and reached over to pick up the bottle of whiskey. "I need a drink."

Before he could grab it, another hand reached out and took the bottle. Stiles and Scott looked up, seeing two unfamiliar men standing in front of them.

"Well, look at the two little bitches getting their drink on," the man who grabbed the bottle, and was wearing a large, funny-looking hat, taunted them.

Scott glared at him. "Give it back."

The guy with the hat scoffed and exchanged a smirk with his friend. "What's that, little man?"

"I think he wants a drink," the second guy spoke up, amused.

"I want the bottle," Scott demanded angrily.

Stiles sat up, noticing the tenseness in Scott's voice. It was the day before the full moon, so Scott's mood swings were probably worse than usual. He didn't want Scott to wolf-out on these guys, especially when he was too drunk to calm him down.

"Scott, maybe we should go," he suggested.

"You brought me out here to get me drunk, Stiles," Scott kept his glare glued to the men. "I'm not drunk yet."

The first guy scoffed and took a sip from the bottle. Scott's glare sharpened as he stood up to face the men. He was a couple inches shorter than both of them, but he didn't seem to care. He was a werewolf; he could overpower them any day.

"Give me the bottle," Scott commanded. When the first guy shook his head, Scott flashed his golden eyes at him and lowered his voice into a growl. "Give me the bottle of Jack."

Stiles got to his feet, seeing Scott's claw start to break through his nail beds. "Scott?"

The first guy slowly held out the bottle of Jack Daniel's out to Scott. Scott ripped it from his grasp and whipped it at a nearby tree, shattering the bottle completely. The men took off, not daring to look back at Scott as they ran away.

"Let's go," Scott said, gaining his control back now that the threat was gone.

Stiles followed him out of the campground without a fuss. "Okay, please tell me that was because of the break-up," he pleaded, starting to sober up. "Or 'cause tomorrow's the full moon?"

Scott, a few strides ahead of his best friend, didn't answer. When they arrived at Stiles' Jeep, he wordlessly opened the passenger door and gestured for Stiles to get.

"Going home now, yeah?" Stiles asked, promptly falling back into the seat.

Scott rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut.

"Up and at 'em buddy!" Olivia called to Sirius as she walked out of her bathroom the next morning, freshly showered and made up. She dressed in a floral skirt and cream-colored sweater, slathering on some clear lip gloss to complete the look, and grabbed her bag full of the schoolwork she had completed and checked twice.

Sirius barked happily, wiggling his booty, and followed her out of the room, his tiny nails tapping against the hard-wood floors.

For the first time in a couple of days, Olivia actually felt good. Derek was all healed up and hiding from the police in her pool house out back, she had a week-long break from school, and for Valentine's Day, her aunt had gotten her a replica of the Millennium Falcon.

She was still upset about what happened at the school that night—especially with Scott and Stiles, who hadn't exactly cared to ask her about Derek's wellbeing, though she did tell Stiles not to contact her so she supposed she should be grateful that they weren't reaching out—but she felt better about it. All her friends were safe, even Stiles and Scott, and so was Derek for the time being. She just hoped that he'd stay out of sight until she figured out what they were going to do about him being a wanted fugitive.

Olivia walked into the kitchen and turned on the radio, intending to fix herself and Lydia some breakfast—and try to sneak some out to Derek before she left for school. Lydia was still bitter about the night at the school, especially toward Scott. Allison—who had broken up with Scott that night—couldn't even talk to the redhead about him cause she had plenty of mean things to say.

"_It's a beautiful Monday morning_," the local radio deejay announced as Olivia filled up Sirius' food and water bowls; he ran over to his mat and started chowing down happily. _"and Beacon Hills High School is back open after being closed for a week for repairs. The police search continues for alleged killer, Derek Hale—"_

Olivia turned the channel, not wanting to hear about the police search going on for Derek and turned on the internet radio. She hummed in satisfaction when an old Jonas Brothers song came on and turned to the fridge.

As she sang along to _Burnin' Up_, she whisked up some eggs—whites only for Lydia—and popped some bread into the toaster. She added cheese, salt, and pepper to the food as it cooked and by the time the eggs were down, she was able to butter the toast.

She scooped some of the food into a Tupperware container to give to Derek and then plated the rest of it, quickly eating her portion.

"Lydia, breakfast!" she called loud enough so Lydia would hear from her bedroom. "I'm taking Sirius out to go potty!"

"Okay!" she heard Lydia shout back."

Olivia grabbed the food container, glad that Lydia wasn't downstairs yet so she wouldn't have to answer any questions about why she was taking food outside, and entered her backyard, Sirius on her heels.

Sirius yipped as he went off to do his business behind the pool house, while Olivia entered it. Derek was already up and doing push-ups in the main room; he popped up when he noticed her.

"Morning," she greeted, handing him the container of eggs and toast. "How are you feeling?"

"Thanks," he said, opening it up to start eating. "I'm fine. All healed up like I told you two day ago."

"I was worried about you," Olivia rolled her eyes, not feeling bad for caring about him. "You were really hurt, Der, let me dote on you."

"You don't dote, Ollie," Derek rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

"I do too," Olivia argued. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. "Only to certain people, anyway."

Derek hummed and bit into his toast with a crunch.

"Full moon's today," she said casually, knowing that he knew what today was. "Um, are you going to help Scott?"

Derek shrugged. "I'll reach out if he needs me. I'm a refugee because of him, so I have to lay low. Will you keep an eye on him at school today?"

"Yeah, I guess," Olivia didn't really want to, but she knew that it was for the best. It was only Scott's second full moon—she didn't know how it'd go.

"You said that his anchor was Allison and they broke up," Derek reminded her. "He'll probably be messed up today. Be careful."

Olivia smiled. "I will," she turned to leave and added, "Stay out of sight, okay?"

"Okay."

She left the pool house and looked around, spotting Sirius sniffing around in the rose bushes. She whistled for him and he came running, following her back into the house.

Lydia was in the kitchen when she walked back in, finishing up her breakfast.

"Thanks for the eggs," she smiled at Olivia. "What were you doing out there?"

"Oh," Olivia racked her brain for an excuse. "I was making sure Siri didn't mess up the rose bushes again. You know how Aunt Nat hates that."

Lydia chuckled and knelt down, happily petting an ecstatic Sirius. "You're such a good boy, aren't you, Siri?" if anyone else other than Olivia saw Lydia speaking in a baby voice for their dog, they'd probably think they were dreaming. "Such a good puppy."

They heard a honk from outside and both girls groaned.

For the past week, they had a police escort for everywhere they went. Olivia and Lydia happened to have a jackass of a deputy—a guy in his mid-twenties named Haigh—who couldn't be bothered to have a single polite conversation with them. He honked outside their house any time they told him they were going anywhere. Natalie absolutely hated him and had already complained to Sheriff Stilinski, however the police force was spread pretty thin right now.

Luckily, today was the last day they had to deal with him.

"I hate that guy," Lydia grumbled, grabbing her purse from where she laid it on the island.

"Me too," Olivia agreed, taking a cold water bottle from the fridge, picking up her bag, and following Lydia out of the kitchen.

The two of them said goodbye to Sirius and locked the door behind them, walking over to Lydia's car.

Half of the day and lunch went by before Olivia caught up with Allison and Lydia, leaving her Calculus class when the bell rang. She greeted her cousin and Allison, who smiled at her, and they walked down the hall together, listening to people continue the gossip about what happened the week before.

No one knew that it was Olivia, Stiles, Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Jackson who were at the school that night. All they knew was that there were some students there after hours and that Derek had supposedly tried to kill them—and succeeded in killing the school's favorite janitor.

Olivia was glad no one knew because she was already getting enough stares for being related to Derek.

"It's just weird," Allison commented quietly, looking around the hallway. "Everybody's talking about what happened the other night and nobody knows it was us."

Lydia scoffed. "Thank you for the protection of minors."

"Guys," Allison frowned, sounding upset. "do you think that I made the wrong decision?"

"About that jacket with that dress?" Olivia said bluntly, looking at the brown leather jacket Allison was wearing that didn't quite go with the dress she had on. "Yes."

Allison rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. "You know what I mean."

Of course, they knew what she meant. She was second-guessing herself about breaking up with Scott. She wasn't sure about her decision and had been asking the girls almost everyday since then if it was the right one.

Honestly, Olivia could see both sides. Allison couldn't trust Scott to tell her the truth but Scott couldn't exactly tell her that he was a werewolf and that the thing chasing them was a murderous alpha. There was really no right way to handle the solution because it was clear how into each other Allison and Scott were.

"Hello?" Lydia drawled, irritation thick in her voice. "Scott locked us in a classroom and left us for dead. He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay out therapy bills."

Allison nodded and sighed, silently agreeing with Lydia.

"If you can't trust him, I'd say you did the right thing," Olivia shared her opinion. "but maybe you can work it out. You guys really like each other, so…"

Allison smiled at Olivia, glad about her point-of-view. She had been listening to Lydia grumble about Scott all week, so it was nice to have something positive in the Stallison corner.

"Come on," Allison hooked her arm with Olivia's. "we have an economics exam to get to."

Olivia groaned. "Yippee."

Stiles sat on the floor outside of the principal's office, waiting dutifully for his dad to come out. He had seen him come in during lunch and was anxious to find out what was going on in the search for Derek.

He also wanted to warn his dad about to night. With the full moon and an alpha on a rampage, he needed his dad to be safe.

Finally, as the bell rang for his econ class, Noah stepped out of the office with two state detectives and a deputy. Stiles got to his feet, waiting for a chance to talk to him.

"We're watching the Martin house and the old Hale house," Noah told the detectives. "Maybe he'll wind up at one of those places," he saw Stiles waiting for him and frowned. "Give me a second."

He walked over to Stiles and crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you have a test to get to?"

"What's going on?" Stiles ignored his question, looking over his shoulder at the two detectives. "Did you find Derek yet?"

"I'm working on it. Go take your test," Noah said sternly.

Stiles shook his head. "All right, Dad, listen to me—"

"Go!"

"This is really important," Stiles insisted. "You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight."

Noah softened, seeing the concern in his son's eyes. "Stiles, I'm always careful."

"Dad, you've never dealt with this kind of thing, okay?" Stiles stated, talking about werewolves. "At least not like this."

"I know," Noah assumed Stiles was talking about a mass murderer. "which is why I brought in people who have. State detectives," he gestured to the men in suits talking to the deputy. "Go take your test."

Seeing that his dad wasn't going to continue the conversation, Stiles sighed heavily and shrugged on his backpack. He left his dad and made his way to one of the exam rooms where his economics test was taking place.

Unfortunately, when he entered, he saw that Mr. Harris was proctoring the test. He groaned under his breath, ignoring the glare the chemistry teacher sent him, and walked up the large steps to a desk in the back.

As he sat down and pulled out a pencil, his eyes fell on Olivia. He took the time to admire her as she whispered with Allison, enjoying the way her braided bun showed off her slender neck and the glossy shine her lips gave off.

Even though they spent most of the time they had together bickering, he really missed her this past week.

He felt really bad about what happened with Derek and while he was mad at Olivia for a few days when she wouldn't talk to him, he ultimately knew that he and Scott were in the wrong. He'd react the same way if she told everyone his cousin was a murderer.

Stiles would respect the fact that she didn't want him to talk to her, though. He just wished she would talk to him.

Mr. Harris started handing out scantrons they had to use for their test, along with blue booklets for their essays, when Scott entered the room. Stiles watched as he headed straight to Allison's desk, only to be stopped by Mr. Harris.

"Mr. McCall, please take a seat," he demanded.

Scott sighed and walked away from Allison, taking the empty desk in front of Stiles.

Once Mr. Harris had handed out the rest of the testing papers, he stood at the front of the room, leaning against the podium. "You have forty-five minutes to complete the test," he told the class. "Twenty-five percent of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book—"

Stiles grinned and scrambled to write his name on the designated line.

"—However," Mr. Harris continued. "as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover and I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So, let's get the disappointment over with," he held up his stopwatch and pressed the start button. "Begin."

The sound of several pages flipping filled the room as everyone got started on their tests. Stiles answered the first question easily, filling in the bubble, and went on, finding that the questions were made up of the chapters he actually studied.

In the middle of the test, he took a break with multiple choice, using one of his testing strategies. He answered the essay question—some nonsense prompt about how the economy could change in the next few years and to deal with it—and went back to where he started.

He was just filling out the last question when Scott's chair screeched in front of him. Scott hopped out of his seat and rang out of the room, ignoring Mr. Harris' indignant objections.

"Mr. McCall?"

Stiles grabbed his bag and his test and ran down the steps. He slammed his finished test on Mr. Harris' desk and left the room, following after his best friend.

"Mr. Stilinski!"

By the time that Stiles entered the hallway, Scott was no where to be seen. Twenty feet or so away from the classroom door, Scott's bag was on the ground discarded. Stiles picked it up and swung it over his shoulder.

"Scott?" Stiles called lowly, hoping that Scott would be able to hear with his enhanced senses.

He pulled his phone out of his jeans and dialed Scott's number. He heard the distinct ring coming from down the hall and followed it. He ended up in the boys' locker room where he heard the shower going in the other room.

"Scott?" he called, hoping that he wasn't naked or wolfed-out.

Luckily, Scott still had his jeans on and he had all of his human features. He panted heavily as he turned around, leaning under the shower's spray.

"Stiles," he gasped for breath, turning off the water. "I can't—"

"What's happening?" Stiles asked quickly. "Are you changing?"

"No," Scott shook his head. "No, I can't breathe."

He wheezed and Stiles was taken back to the time when Scott had frequent asthma attacks—it felt like forever ago now. He hurriedly pulled Scott's bag off his shoulder and rummaged through the pockets, finding his old inhaler in one of the front zippers.

"Here, use this," he tossed the inhaler to Scott. When Scott gave him a questioning look, he insisted, "Come on, do it."

Scott wheezed again and pressed the inhaler to his lips, breathing in the medication. He braced himself against his knees as the pain in his lungs lessened and his breathing regulated.

He straightened up, giving Stiles an incredulous look. "I was having an asthma attack?"

"No, you were having a panic attack," Stiles corrected him, having gone through them numerous times. "but thinking you were having an asthma attack actually stopped the panic attack. _Irony_."

Distracting himself during a panic attack usually worked for him; he was just lucky if worked for Scott, too.

"How'd you know how to do that?"

"I used to get them after my mom died," Stiles said honestly, shaking his head slightly at the horrible memories. "Not fun, huh?"

Scott shook his head, agreeing. "I looked at her and it was like someone hit me in the ribs with a hammer," he confessed.

"Yeah, it's called heartbreak. There's about two billion songs written about it," Stiles tried to lighten the mood. He could tell it wasn't working.

Scott sighed heavily, frustrated. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"Well, you can think about this," Stiles stated. "Her dad is a werewolf hunter and you're a werewolf so it was bound to become an issue," Scott glared at him, causing him to sigh. "All right, that wasn't helpful. Dude, I mean, yeah, you got dumped. It's supposed to suck."

"No, that's not it," Scott shook his head. "It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone else's emotions."

Stiles hummed thoughtfully. "It's gotta be the full moon," he predicted making Scott nod. "So, we'll lock you up in your room later just like we planned. That way the alpha—_who's your boss_—can't get to you, either."

"I think we need to do a lot more than lock me in my room," Scott said darkly.

"What, you mean because if you get out you'd be caught by hunters?" Stiles guessed.

"No," Scott denied. "because if I get out, I think I might kill someone."

Talk about a mood killer.

At the end of Stiles' free period—which happened to coincide with the last class of the day—he left the library where he spent the whole hour on his phone, looking up various hardware stores. He needed chains for tonight and he was looking for the strongest ones. Handcuffs were easy to come by, believe it or not, but it helped that his dad was the sheriff.

He turned down the hallway to head to the locker room to change for lacrosse practice when he came face-to-face with Olivia.

"Hey!" his voice came out squeakier than he intended. He grimaced, his eye flicking down her body and lingering on the thigh highs that showed off a small flash of pale skin.

_Shit_, he though_, look away Stiles_.

"Hi."

Stiles cleared his throat. "Uh, what's up? How are you? What do you need?" he asked quickly. His eyes widened and he added, "Not that I don't want to talk to you, because I do, but you told me not to talk to you, so…"

"Well, you and Scott are un-shunned for the day," she crossed her arms over her chest and Stiles remembered the episode of _The Office_ where Dwight shunned Andy. "We need to talk."

"About what?" he asked. "Because I need to get ready for practice."

Olivia looked around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation, lowering her voice. "About the full moon," she said obviously. "Can you talk after you get ready? I'll be quick."

"Sure," Stiles nodded. "See you in a few."

He gave her a smile and entered the locker room, getting dressed quickly. He pulled on his elbow pads as he sat on the bench next to Scott, ready for the news that Coach had told them to wait around for before practice.

Coach blew his whistled and walked out of his office, the team surrounding him. "All right, geniuses, listen up," he declared. "Due to the recent pink-eye epidemic—thank you, Greenberg—the following people have made first line on a probationary basis, emphasis on _probationary_."

Stiles closed his eyes tightly and crossed his fingers, hoping for a miracle. He wanted for Coach to call his name so he could finally play first line. He wasn't as good as his teammates, but who really cared?

"Rodriguez, welcome to first line," Coach read off his clipboard as everyone clapped for Oscar Rodriguez. "Taylor and uh…Oh, for the love of crap, I can't even read my own writing. Is that an 'S'?"

Stiles perked up, hoping that it was his name written down.

"No, that's not an 'S'," Coach shook his head; Stiles deflated. "That's a 'B'. That's definitely a 'B'. Uh, Rodrigues, Taylor, and uh, Bilinski."

Stiles looked up, his eyes wide with shock. There was no one on the team named Bilinski and his last name definitely rhymed with that. He jumped to his feet and cheer, ignoring the judgmental looks he got from his teammates.

"Bilinski!" Coach barked.

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

"Yes, sir!" Stiles chirped, sitting back down.

"Stiles," Scott whispered, trying to get his attention.

"It's Biles," Stiles said quickly. "Call me Biles or I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Another thing," Coach added. "From here on out, immediately, we're switching to co-captains. Congratulations, McCall."

Stiles gaped at Scott, clapping him on the shoulder in congrats, as Jackson stepped forward to protest.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"What do you mean _what_?" Coach asked. "Jackson, this takes nothing away from you. This is about combining separate strengths into one unit. This is about taking your unit, McCall's unit…" he waved his hands. "we're making one big unit."

Coach turned to Scott. "McCall, it's you and Jackson now," he looked around and blew his whistle. "Everyone else, asses on the field. Asses on the field!"

Stiles and Scott hopped off the bench as everyone scattered, heading to the field. As they left the locker room, Stiles said joyously, "Dude, can you believe this? You're a captain, I'm first line. I'm first-fucking-line!"

Scott didn't say anything, handing Stiles his lacrosse stick so he could adjust his white practice jersey. Once he was finished, Stiles handed it back to him.

"Are you not freaking out?" Stiles asked him. "I'm freaking out."

"What's the point?" Scott shrugged. "It's just a stupid title. I could practically smell the jealousy in there."

"Wait," Stiles held out a hand, stopping Scott. "you smell jealousy?"

"Yeah, it's like the full moon's turned everything up to ten."

"Huh," Stiles pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Can you pick up on stuff like, I don't know, desire?"

Scott gave him a blank look. "What do you mean, desire?"

"Like sexual desire?" Stiles clarified.

"Sexual desire?"

"Yeah, sexual desire!" Stiles exclaimed. "Lust, passion, _arousal_."

Stiles peeked toward the end of the hallway where Olivia and Lydia were chatting. Scott saw who he was looking at.

"From Olivia?"

"What, no," Stiles denied too quickly. "in a general, broad sense. Can you determine sexual desire?"

Scott raised his eyebrows at his best friend. "From Olivia to you?"

"Fine, yes, from Olivia to me," Stiles admitted. "Look, I need to know if I finally have a chance with her, okay? She's been driving me crazy lately and I'm fairly certain I've fallen deep. Like, ocean-trench deep, all right?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" Scott asked, looking at Olivia and then back to Stiles.

"To save myself from utterly crushing humiliation, thank you," Stiles pointed out. "So, please, can you just go up and ask her if she likes me? See if heartbeat rises or some pheromones come out. Hell, if she doesn't glare, that's a good sign."

"Fine," Scott gave in, sighing heavily.

As he walked down the hallway, Stiles called, "I love you! You're my best friend in the whole world."

Olivia stood in the hall outside of the boys' locker room, waiting for Stiles to come out so they could talk about his plans for Scott's night. The full moon wasn't a joke, which she was sure they knew—having gone through it once already—but she just wanted to make sure everything was ready to go.

Surely they had something to chain the new werewolf up with, right?

She chatted with Lydia while she waited, telling her cousin about how certain she was that she aced her econ exam. Lydia was congratulating her when Scott walked up to them, dressed in his practice gear.

"Hey, Olivia, can we talk for a second?" he asked quietly, a bit sheepish.

Olivia pursed her lips but agreed, wondering if he wanted to talk about the full moon. "Sure."

"I'll wait here," Lydia told Olivia, giving Scott a flirty smile that she didn't catch.

Olivia nodded and followed Scott into the Coach's empty office. When Scott shut the door behind them, she started questioning him.

"Is this about the full moon?" she asked. "Do you and Stiles know what you're doing?"

Scott shook his head. "I just needed to ask you something," Olivia nodded and he continued, "Do you, uh…do you know if Allison still likes me?"

Olivia sighed, feeling sympathetic. She had never been in a relationship—almost all the boys in school thought she was a bitch—but she knew how hard a break-up could be. She remembered her aunt and uncle's divorce and it still effected Natalie.

"Of course, she likes you, Scott," she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Scott perked up. "Really?"

"She just needs time, all right?" she informed him. "She's confused about what happened the other night."

"Oh," Scott narrowed his eyes.

"So, um," Olivia crossed her arms, uncomfortable with the way his eyes started hardening as he took a few steps toward her. "Did you and Stiles—"

She was abruptly cut off as Scott forcefully pressed his lips to hers, grabbing the back of her head to hold her still. She angrily grunted against him and pressed against his chest pads, pushing him away from her.

She wiped the remnants of the kiss off her lips and snarled, "What the hell, Scott?"

"I thought you wanted me to kiss you!" Scott defended himself, somewhat harshly.

"In what world was that me giving you permission to land one on me?" she asked incredulously. "I know the full moon is messing with you and I'm sorry about that but that doesn't give you the right to go around kissing random girls, Scott!"

She whipped the door open and angrily marched out of Coach's office, ignoring the way that Lydia lingered for Scott.

Olivia cursed under her breath as she walked out of the school and onto the practice field, climbing to the second row of bleachers. Practice was just about to start and she bit the inside of her cheek when she saw the back of Stiles' jersey.

Should she tell Stiles about what happened? His best friend was out of control.

She decided not to. It was personal and she didn't really know how to feel about Scott kissing her. She had kissed someone before but it still didn't feel right when someone touched you without permission.

She would tell Allison, because she didn't want to keep the fact that her new friend's ex-boyfriend kissed her a secret, and that was it. She wasn't even going to tell Lydia. No one else needed to know.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted Scott walking onto the field. He took a seat next to Stiles on the bench and they spoke for a while before Stiles flailed excitedly. As Olivia wondered what they were talking about, Coach blew his whistle to start practice.

The guys lined up for a practice drill where they dodged defense and tried to take a shot through Danny, the best goalie on the team. Each player went, some scoring, some not—Jackson scored, earning praise from Coach—until it was Scott's turn.

He scooped up and ran forward when the whistle was blown. He was tackled by the defensive players, landing harshly on the ground.

_Karma_, Olivia couldn't help but think as Lydia took a seat next to her.

Coach laughed loudly at Scott's misfortune and walked over to him. "Guess some people don't appreciate your new status there, McCall," he taunted the werewolf. "Who's next? Let's go!"

Olivia was surprised to see Stiles up in the front of the line with the rest of the players on first line. He was next to go and stepped forward, only to be pushed back by an angry Scott.

"That's it, McCall!" Coach cheered. "You earn it. Earn it, McCall!"

Coach blew the whistle again and Scott took off, sprinting down the field. He bypassed the defense altogether and continued toward the goal. When Danny stepped up to defend his territory, Scott raised his stick and slap checked him in the mask.

There were gasps among the team and crowd as Danny fell to the ground. Olivia and Lydia jumped out of their seats and rushed down to the field as the players formed a circle around him.

"Danny!"

"Danny, are you okay?"

Olivia made sure that Danny was all right—he only had a bloody nose and was a little disoriented—before running over to Stiles, who had confronted Scott about hitting Danny needlessly.

"I know it's the full moon but he's seriously being an asshole," she commented to Stiles as Scott walked off the field.

Stiles scoffed and turned to her. "No kidding…" he trailed off, noticing how her lip gloss was smudged. "You've got to be fucking joking."

"What?" Olivia looked at him, alarmed by his change in attitude.

Why was he angry all of a sudden?

"Did you kiss Scott?" he accused her, his blood boiling. He wasn't mad at her—well, maybe a little bit irritated—because they weren't together or anything and he wasn't even sure that she liked him. Scott had probably been lying, after all. He was definitely furious with Scott, though. He fucking knew how much he cared about Olivia.

Olivia stiffened, crossing her arms over her chest. Stiles softened, seeing the upset look in her eyes and regretting losing his temper with her.

"Livvy…"

"He kissed me," she muttered, frowning. "I didn't ask for it and I definitely pushed him away. I don't kiss other people's boyfriends."

Stiles pressed his lips together, growing even more angry with Scott. You don't kiss or touch a girl—or anyone, for that matter—without permission. Everyone knew that even if not everyone followed that rule.

"I'm sorry. Can I—?" he apologized, reaching toward her. To his immense surprise, she let him hug her.

He really didn't see that coming, especially in public where anyone could see, but he wasn't complaining. As Olivia buried her head in his practice jersey, he rested his chin against her braid. Her hair smelt like apples and he smelt her usual cinnamon-sugar perfume that she wore and he swore it was his favorite scent combination from now on.

He tightened his arms around Olivia but let go when she started to pull away.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

"Yeah, no, it's okay—"

"I don't usually hug people that much," Olivia smiled weakly. "Um," she shook her head, focusing. "Do you need my help for tonight? Do you have everything?"

Stiles grinned, thinking of a little payback for his dear best friend. "Actually, I could use your help with something…"

Olivia climbed from the backseat of Stiles' Jeep—he insisted she sit in the back because the passenger seatbelt didn't always work and he was paranoid about her safety—and hopped onto the sidewalk in front of Scott's house, shutting the door behind her. She waited patiently as Stiles heaved a large black duffle bag from his trunk before they started walking up to the house together.

After the rest of lacrosse practice was canceled because Danny needed a x-ray and everyone was pretty bummed out, Olivia and Stiles headed to the nearest hardware store. They consulted a worker about their strongest chains and proceeded to buy what the employee recommended.

Stiles also stopped at a dollar store to pick up a cheap dog bowl, making Olivia laugh.

"Stiles, where did you get those handcuffs?" Olivia asked curiously as they climbed the porch to the front door.

"Hmm?"

"Are you into that kind of thing?" she asked teasingly.

Stiles' cheeks flushed instantly. "Yeah—what? I mean, no!" he shook his head frantically, laughing nervously. "No, of course not. These are my dad's."

Olivia snickered, amused about how easily he got flustered. "All right, calm down," she soothed him, kind of intrigued by his admission. "I was just teasing you."

"Oh," Stiles inhaled sharply. "Well, um, don't. Don't joke about that kind of thing, because…" he shifted, shaking his head as he pulled out the key he made and unlocked the door. "Just don't."

Olivia grinned. "Okay."

"Yeah, _okay_," he mocked her, entering Scott's house. "Just get in here."

"Scott?" a female called from a room over as Olivia shut the door. A beautiful woman around her aunt's age walked into the room, dressed in dark-purple scrubs. The smile on her face fell when she saw Stiles and Olivia standing by her door.

"Stiles," Stiles waved at her, chuckling awkwardly.

The woman pointed at Stiles' key ring. "Key!"

"Yeah," he nodded with a smile. "I had one made, so…"

"That doesn't surprise me," the woman shook her head. "It scares me but it doesn't surprise me. Who's your friend?" she asked, giving Olivia a polite smile.

"Oh, Melissa, this is Olivia," Stiles introduced her to Scott's mom. "Livvy, this is Melissa, Scott's mom."

Olivia waved with a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. McCall."

"Just call me Melissa, sweetie," Melissa smiled, recognizing her name as the one Stiles always talked about. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Is Scott home?" Stiles asked, looking at his watch for the time.

"Not yet," Melissa answered as Stiles dropped the duffle bag on the floor, the metal chain clinking together. "What's that?"

"Oh, uh…"

"It's a school project," Olivia spoke up as Stiles floundered. "That's why I'm here."

"Oh," Melissa nodded, accepting her answer, before turning back to Stiles. "Stiles, he's okay, right?"

"Who, Scott?" Stiles asked nervously. "Yeah, totally."

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore," Melissa said sadly. "Not like he used to."

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week," Stiles excused his best friend, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah," Melissa nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Um, okay, uh—be careful tonight."

"You too," Stiles said absentmindedly, moving out of the way so Melissa could leave for her night shift at the hospital.

"Full moon."

Olivia and Stiles stiffened, looking at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"There's a full moon tonight," Melissa repeated herself. "You should see how the ER gets. It brings out all the nutjobs."

Olivia laughed awkwardly as Stiles muttered, "Oh, right."

Melissa nodded and smiled. "You know, it's actually where they came up with the word _lunatic_."

"That's interesting trivia," Stiles commented.

"Mmhm," Melissa waved at them and left. "Night."

"Jesus," Stiles sighed in relief when the door shut. He and Olivia started climbing up the stairs. "I thought she knew for a second."

"I know," Olivia agreed.

They walked down the hallway to Scott's room; Stiles flung open the door and turned on the lights before shouting in shock. Olivia peeked past him to see that Scott had been sitting in the dark by the window, as if he was waiting for them.

"Oh, my God, dude!" Stiles scolded him. "You scared the fuck out of me. Your mom said you weren't home yet."

Stiles set the duffle bag down in front of Scott.

"I came through the window," Scott told them.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," Olivia murmured under her breath.

Derek had never acted this weird on a full moon—but, then again, she wasn't around him on those nights when he was younger.

"Okay," Stiles knelt down next to the bag and unzipped it. "Well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what we bought."

"I'm fine," Scott said lowly. "I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight."

Olivia immediately shook her head. "I don't think so, buddy. The Argents are out tonight and we don't want you running around, maiming or killing somebody," she said sternly.

"Besides," Stiles added. "you've got this kind of serial-killer look going on in your eyes. I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect cause you're starting to freak me out."

"I'm fine," Scott insisted, glaring at Olivia before looking back at Stiles. "You should go now."

"All right, I'll leave," Stiles lied before faltering. "Look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

Scott got on his knees and rifled through the bag, pulling out the chains they brought. Stiles stealthily pulled the handcuffs out of his back pocket and got ready to hook Scott up to the radiator next to him.

Scott held up a chain and glowered at Stiles. "You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no," Stiles said before lunging at Scott. He grabbed Scott's right hand and wrapped a cuff around it before attaching him to the radiator. Scott fought against the strong metal, growling in annoyance.

Olivia watched on, secretly impressed by Stiles' guts.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott screamed at him, furious.

"Protecting you from yourself," Stiles answered, narrowing his eyes. "and giving you a little payback for forcing yourself on Olivia."

Stiles immediately turned to leave the room and Olivia followed him, not wanting to be alone with Scott.

"I'm going to get him some water," Stiles told her. "Can you stay here?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. "I'll be here."

Stiles smiled at her and walked downstairs. Scott was quiet except for a few grunts here and there as he tried to get out of the handcuffs but Stiles was back within minutes, so she didn't have to do anything.

He had the dog bowl he bought and he sad written Scott's name on the side in big block letters. He winked at her and entered the room, missing the way she smiled in amusement.

"I brought you some water," Stiles held up the dog bowl and poured some water into it. He set it down in front of Scott and turned to leave, only to be hit in the back with the bowl and some water when Scott threw it at him.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott shouted angrily.

Stiles whipped around, his temper rising. "You kissed her, Scott, okay? Against her fucking permission, might I add," he yelled at his best friend. "You know how I—she's—" he shook his head, trying to find the right words to describe how he was feeling. "You know, the past three hours, I've been thinking it's probably just the full moon causing you to act this way. You'll be back to normal by tomorrow and you probably won't remember what a complete dumbass you've been. A son of a bitch, a fucking unbelievable piece-of-shit friend."

In the hallway, Olivia's mouth was wide open. She knew that Stiles was grumpy sometimes but she hadn't seen him lose his temper other than the time Derek was shot with wolfsbane. She certainly hadn't seen him lose it with Scott.

It shocked her but it also warmed her heart that Stiles was defending her. Not many guys would stand up to their best friend and tell them what they did with a girl was wrong.

"She kissed me."

Olivia narrowed her eyes and pulled her knees up to her chest when she heard Scott. It was absolutely untrue and she knew that, but she didn't like the fact that her chest twisted at the thought that Stiles may believe Scott.

"What?" Stiles snapped and Olivia flinched.

"She kissed me," Scott repeated, his voice low and harsh. "I didn't kiss her. She would have done a lot more, too. You should have seen the way she had her hands all over me. She would have done anything I wanted. _Anything_!"

Olivia pressed her hands over her ears and squeezed her stinging eyes shut, not wanting to hear anymore. This was a very bad idea; she shouldn't have come to help Scott at all.

"Just shut the fuck up, Scott," Stiles spat, not believing a word his best friend said, and walked into the hallway.

Stiles could have sworn his heart broke when he saw Olivia practically curled up with her hands covering her ears. He plopped down next to her and tapped the outside of her closest knee to get her attention.

Olivia lowered her hands and looked over at Stiles, who was smiling sadly at her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just—" she shook her head. "I didn't do that, Stiles, okay? I swear, I didn't."

"I believe you," he assured her. "and even if you did, it's none of my business, okay?"

Scott started groaning loudly as he tried to break the cuff around his wrist. "Stiles, please let me out," he begged, causing Stiles to stiffen. "It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose."

Stiles just shook his head and leaned it against the wall, closing his eyes. He may have been angry with Scott, but he didn't deserve to go through so much pain. It broke his heart.

"Olivia, I'm sorry," Scott moaned pitifully, tugging on Olivia's heartstrings. "Please help me. It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time. It's the full moon, it's Allison breaking up with me…It's killing me. I feel so hopeless. Just please," he cried. "please help me."

Olivia inhaled slowly. "Scott, just calm down, okay?" she called, hoping to comfort him a little. "Just relax. Focus on your control."

Her words seemed to work for a little while as Scott calmed down and stopped talking. The only thing they could hear was his panting. And then, as the night went on and the moon reached its peak, he started screaming.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

Stiles cringed and buried his face in Olivia's hair, trying to ignore his best friend's screams. He hated this so much. He hated that Scott had to go through this.

"I can't," he murmured as Olivia grabbed his hand tightly. "I can't."

Suddenly Scott stopped screaming; the sound of metal clanking against more metal and a loud growl caught their attention.

"Scott, are you okay?"

There was no answer. Olivia and Stiles exchanged a worried look and scrambled to their feet, looking into Scott's room. He wasn't attached to the radiator any more—the cuff was there, hanging in a puddle of blood.

"Shit," Stiles cursed under his breath and turned to Olivia. "I'm gonna go find him. Can you maybe call Lydia to pick you up? You'll be safe here until then."

"No problem," Olivia nodded, knowing that it was more important to find Scott as soon as possible. As Stiles turned to walk away, she added, "Stiles?"

He turned back to look at her. "Hmm?"

"Be careful."


	9. The Alpha

**[1x09; Wolf's Bane]**

Olivia hated car chases. She didn't like the _Fast and Furious _movies, she hated the _Cars_ phase that every kid under ten seemed to be going through, and she couldn't stand those police shows that Lydia was secretly a fan of where they covered lives chases. She didn't even know anything about cars, either—she hadn't gone through driver's ed yet and she had no idea how to change a tire.

But there she was, sitting in the back seat of Derek's Camaro as she, Stiles, and Scott were chased by Kate Argent in a freaking neon-green Kia Soul.

Honestly, she didn't know what Derek was thinking. For whatever reason, he had to go to the school and he decided that he wanted back-up just in case things went wrong. As it happened, things did go wrong—two ways, in fact.

Not only was Derek spotted in town and was now being chased by numerous police cruisers, but Kate Argent saw his car and decided that she wanted to take him down that very minute.

"Can you slow down?" Scott asked Stiles from the passenger seat as they sped through the back roads of Beacon Hills, Kate on their tail.

"I don't think you grasp the idea of a car chase, Scott," Stiles rolled his eyes and pressed harder on the gas pedal, speeding up. "If I go slower, she'll kill us."

"If you go faster, _you'll_ kill us!" Scott argued as Stiles took a curve too fast causing all three of them to slide in their seats.

"Stop arguing!" Olivia demanded. She turned around to see how close Kate was but was surprised to see the hunter drive off. "She's gone."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Scott, check the police radio."

Scott nodded and turned up the volume of the little radio Stiles had given him.

"_All units, suspect is on foot heading into the Iron Works_," Sheriff Stilinski's voice came through the static-y speaker.

"Damn."

Stiles sharply turned the wheel, spinning them around to head in the direction they just came from. They were only a few miles away from the Iron Works—the factory district downtown—so it wouldn't take long to get to Derek.

Stiles drove faster, if that was possible, causing Olivia to suspect that he was enjoying his time with the Camaro.

As Stiles drove, Scott unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the back with Olivia so that Derek could get in easily without taking too much time. Stiles would be able to make a speedy getaway.

They pulled up into the Iron Works and when they saw explosions of light up ahead, they figured Derek would be there, too. Stiles drove over, spotting Derek, and squealed to a stop right beside him.

Scott reached forward and opened the passenger door. "Get in!"

As Derek dove into the car and shut the door, bullets started hitting the side. Olivia ducked her head, hoping they wouldn't break the window, and sighed in relief when Stiles accelerated sharply so they could get out of the line of fire.

Once they were a safe distance away with no one following them, Olivia leaned forward to glare at Derek. "I told you it wasn't a good idea."

Derek sent her a glare as Scott added, "Yeah, what part of laying low don't you understand?"

Derek rolled his eyes and slapped the dashboard, angry with the turn of events. He was so close to getting the alpha. So freaking close. "Damn it, I had him!"

"Who, the alpha?" Stiles asked, briefly looking at him.

"Yes!" Derek huffed. "He was right in front of me and the fuckin' police showed up."

"Woah, hey, they're just doing their jobs," Stiles defended his dad and the other people he knew around the police department.

"Yeah," the older werewolf snapped, giving Scott a glare. "thanks to _someone_ who decided to make me the most-wanted fugitive in the entire state."

"Can we seriously get past that?" Scott asked, exasperated, as he leaned forward so his head was next to Olivia's and in between Stiles and Derek's seats. "I made a dumbass mistake. I get it."

"Well, you didn't even apologize," Olivia muttered bitterly.

"All right, not the time," Stiles gave both of them stern looks before addressing Derek, "How did you find him?"

Derek looked at Scott and Stiles and scoffed, shaking his head.

"Can you try to trust us for at least half a second?" Scott said pointedly.

"He's right, Derek," Olivia agreed with the teen wolf. "They have a right to know."

"Yeah, _they_—as in both of us," Stiles emphasized with a sharp nod. Derek scoffed again, causing him to sigh, "Or just him, whatever."

"Just spit it out," Olivia snapped.

"Look, the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out," Derek informed them. "She found two things. First was a guy named Harris."

"Wait, our chemistry teacher?" Olivia spoke up, shocked. Laura had been searching for the stuck-up war veteran who hated kids—or people in general—with a passion? "Why him?"

Derek shook his head. "I don't know yet," he admitted.

"What's the second?" Scott asked.

Derek reached into his jacket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Some kind of symbol," he showed Olivia and Scott a drawing of a circle with what looked to be a wolf in the middle of it with a fleur-de-lis underneath it. Both of them recognized it and exchanged a horrified look that Derek caught. "What? You guys know what this is?"

Of course, they did—it was the exact design of the pendent Allison got for her birthday.

"I've seen it on a necklace," Scott sighed. "Allison's necklace."

Derek narrowed his eyes and tried to piece together what it meant that Laura was looking for Allison's necklace. "Get it. We need to see if there's anything weird about it."

"I'll try," Scott said, trying to figure out a way that he could get a closer look at Allison's necklace. She wouldn't even talk to him currently, how the hell was he going to get her necklace?

"Don't try. Get the necklace," Derek ordered before turning to Stiles. "Why are you driving my car?"

Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"

"Der, Scott and I can't drive," Olivia pointed out, coming to Stiles' rescue. "Stiles was kind of our only choice. Now say thank you for saving my ass."

Derek grumbled but Olivia shot him a hard glare.

"Fine," he said quietly. "Thank you for saving my ass."

Scott and Stiles exchanged amused looks in the rearview mirror.

"This is gonna be impossible, you know," Scott declared as he and Stiles walked into school the next morning.

"Why don't you just ask her if you can borrow it?" Stiles suggested.

"How?"

"It's easy," Stiles shrugged. "You just say '_Hey, Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything on it or in it that can lead me to an alpha werewolf that I need to kill in order to get back together with you?_'"

Scott gave him an unamused look. "You're not helping."

"All right, why don't you just talk to her?"

"She won't talk to me," Scott reminded him. "What if she, like, only takes it off in the shower or something?"

"That's why you ease—" Stiles stopped in the middle of the hallway so he could face Scott head-on. "that's why you ease back into it, okay? Get back on her good side, remind her of the good times. And then you ask for the necklace."

Stiles pursed his lips when he saw the dazed look on Scott's face.

"You're thinking about her in the shower, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Scott gave him an apologetic look.

"All right, stay focused, okay?" Stiles shook his head. "By the way, have you apologized to Olivia yet? 'Cause I'm still sensing some tension…"

In the few days since the full moon, Olivia and Stiles had fully made up from the night at the school and were back to being almost-friends (Olivia denied that they were friends but Stiles thought she was just kidding herself—they were definitely full-blown friends now). However, things had been awkward between Scott and Olivia.

Scott felt so bad when the full moon ended and he realized all the horrible things he did during the day. He wanted to apologize but he hadn't figured out exactly what to say yet.

"No, I haven't, but I will after English class," Scott decided.

"All right, good," Stiles nodded in approval. "I've got that appointment with Ms. Morrell, so I won't be there to help. Remember, get the necklace, get the alpha, get cured, get Allison. In that order, got it?"

Scott nodded. "Get the necklace."

Stiles and Scott didn't even make it until their English class before they encountered a problem. The problem's name was Jackson Whittemore and when he came up to Scott's locker and told him that he knew what he was, Scott knew he was screwed. Royally screwed considering the fact that Jackson threatened to tell Allison about Scott being a werewolf if he wasn't able to turn into one too.

Scott went to Stiles with the news after their first period.

"How the hell did he find out?" Stiles exclaimed as they walked to Scott's locker.

Scott shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Did he say it out loud?" Stiles asked. "The word?"

Scott gave him a confused look. "What word?"

"Werewolf," Stiles said impatiently. "Did he say, '_I know you're a werewolf'_?"

"No, but he implied it pretty fucking clearly," Scott's blood practically boiled at the thought of his jackass of a co-captain.

"Okay," Stiles tried to calm down. "maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I mean, he doesn't have any proof, right? And if he wanted to tell someone, who's gonna believe him anyway?"

"How about Allison's father?"

Stiles deflated at the mention of the hunter. "Okay," he admitted. "it's bad."

Scott nodded. "I need a cure right now."

"Does he know about Allison's father?"

"I don't know."

"Okay," Stiles sighed, tapping his fingers against his upper thigh. The sooner they found the alpha, the sooner Scott could get cured, right? "where's Derek?"

"Hiding like Olivia told him to," Scott informed him. "Why?"

"I have another idea," Stiles said, a plan forming in his mind. "It's gonna take a little time and finesse, though."

"We have that game tonight, it's quarterfinals," Scott reminded him. "And it's your first game."

"I know, I know," Stiles didn't exactly need the reminder about being first line—he was already freaking out about it. "Look, do you have a plan for Allison yet?"

"Yeah, English is next."

Stiles nodded and clapped him on the shoulder to show his support. "Get the necklace."

As Stiles walked away to head to the guidance counselor's office, Scott sighed, "Right, get the necklace."

The bell rang for the next class period and Olivia grabbed her English textbook and shut her locker, turning to face Allison. The taller brunette had stuck like glue to her all day—when they weren't in classes—to try to avoid not only Scott but Lydia.

Apparently, when Olivia rushed out of Coach's office on the day of the full moon, Lydia had waited around for Scott. According to Allison, who heard it from Jackson, Lydia and Scott had a full-blown make-out session. Unlike Olivia, who had confessed that Scott had kissed her, Lydia still hadn't told Allison.

Allison was understandably upset about all of it and, while Olivia made it clear she wasn't taking sides, she just wanted to stay away from the redhead and her ex-boyfriend for now. Olivia didn't say anything about it; she liked Allison and considered her a friend although she was one she didn't trust completely.

"You okay?" Olivia asked Allison as they started walking to their English class.

"Yeah, I guess," Allison frowned. "I'm just not ready to see Scott yet."

Olivia patted her shoulder comfortingly. "I'll keep him away from you, okay? Don't worry about him—just focus on _Othello_."

"Yeah, Shakespeare is just what I need," Allison muttered sarcastically, entering their classroom.

Their usual English teacher was out for the second week while he recovered from his heart surgery, so they had the other sophomore English teacher subbing for him. Olivia actually preferred Mrs. Everett and was jealous that Lydia had her permanently.

While Olivia went to ask Mrs. Everett a question about their upcoming report on _Othello_, Allison sat in her usual seat. With her question answered, Olivia made her way to the desk next to her friend, seeing Scott hovering around it.

"Sorry, Scott," she apologized, slipping into the seat before he could. "this one's taken."

Scott sighed and took the empty seat behind Olivia while Allison gave her a grateful look.

"Okay, class, let's settle down," Mrs. Everett ordered as the bell rang; Olivia opened her notebook to a fresh page, prepared to take notes, and opened up her textbook. "Let's get out books out."

"Allison," Scott whispered from behind her, trying to get Allison's attention.

"Hey," Allison gave him a tense look. "Class is beginning."

"I know," Scott acknowledged. "I'll shut up. I just—I have some stuff on my phone that I wanted to send to you. I thought you might like it."

Allison nodded slightly. "Okay."

As Allison turned to the front of the classroom, Olivia gave her a supportive look.

"All right," Mrs. Everett set down her marker and turned away from the board where she wrote down the names of the characters they were going to discuss. "I'd like to return to our discussion from the other day with a more in-depth analysis of Iago and the way in which he preyed upon Othello's jealousies—"

Mrs. Everett was interrupted when Allison stood up, her phone clenched tightly in her hand, and walked out of the room. Scott quickly followed after her.

Mrs. Everett gave them a judgmental look. "We seem to have some here today."

Olivia scoffed quietly and started taking notes.

_You have no idea,_ she thought.

Scott eventually came back into class with no sign of Allison and, when the bell rang, Olivia approached him.

"You okay?" she asked him quietly.

"No," Scott frowned. "Listen, Olivia, I'm sorry about the other day. It was wrong and I'm really mad that I did that to you. If you never forgive me, I understand, but I really am sorry. And I'm also sorry about Derek, I was being stupid."

Olivia gave him a small smile, appreciating the fact that he was taking the time to apologize. Him forcing a kiss on her wasn't okay—not at all—but she ultimately understood that he wasn't really himself that day due to the full moon. As for making Derek a fugitive, if he apologized to Derek and her cousin forgave him, it wasn't her place to hold a grudge.

"I forgive you," she told him honestly. "You weren't yourself and despite the fact that you can be kind of selfish sometimes—" Scott winced at her bluntness. "—I know that you're not a bad guy."

"Thank you," Scott grinned at her.

"No problem," she said as they walked out of the empty classroom. "So, have you figured out how to get Allison's necklace?"

"No," Scott scoffed. "Stiles told me to get on her good side and remind her of the good times we had but it just made her upset."

Olivia figured that was what he sent Allison that made her storm out of the classroom.

"Why are you listening to Stiles?" Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Has he even had a girlfriend?"

"Have you had a boyfriend?" Scott countered.

"No, but I'm a girl, dumbass," Olivia rolled her eyes. "I could have told you that it was a bad idea. Listen, you can't just ask for it."

"I know, I know," Scott nodded, having come to that realization already. "So what do I do?"

"Just steal it," she shrugged.

"Really?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, you're not gonna get it any other way."

"Okay," Scott hummed before remembering that Stiles was asking about Derek earlier. "By the way, Stiles needs to talk to Derek or something. I think he has a plan to catch the alpha another way."

"All right, I'll message him," Olivia patted him on the back as a farewell so she could head to the cafeteria and meet up with Allison, Jackson, and Lydia. "See ya later."

"Bye."

"Did you get her to give you the necklace?" Stiles asked as he set his full tray down next to Scott at their usual lunch table.

Scott huffed, remembering his terrible execution of Stiles' terrible plan. "Not exactly."

"What happened?" Stiles grabbed his water bottle and opened it, looking at Scott expectantly.

"She told me not to talk to her at all," Scott answered, tearing up one of his chicken tenders.

Stiles bit into his own tender and spoke with his mouth full, "So she's not giving you the necklace?"

"She's not giving me the necklace."

"Okay, well, did you find anything else out?"

"Just that I know nothing about girls and that they're totally psychotic," Scott muttered bitterly.

"Okay," Stiles sighed, taking a sip of his water. "I came up with another plan just in case anything like this happened."

"What is it?"

"Just steal the fucking thing," Stiles said simply as he scooped up a forkful of mac-and-cheese.

"Yeah, that's what Olivia said," Scott grumbled. "Couldn't we at least try getting to Harris?"

Stiles shook his head. "My dad put him on a twenty-four-hour protective detail, okay? The necklace is all we have right now. Steal it, thank you."

Stiles focused on the cup of pudding his favorite lunch lady gave him and was only halfway through when Scott nudged him.

"Stiles, he's watching us."

Stiles followed Scott's gaze and saw Jackson a few tables over, sitting next to a chatting Allison and Olivia. He was looking at them, his lips pressed together in thought.

Stiles straightened up and tried to look casual while Scott flinched next to him. He saw the annoyed look on Scott's face and looked back at Jackson, seeing him smirk annoyingly.

"What's wrong?" he whispered to Scott.

"Jackson's talking to me," Scott told him quietly. "He knows I can hear him."

Stiles' eyes widened and he looked back at Jackson. Scott nudged him again.

"Look at me," the werewolf told his best friend. "Just talk to me. Act normal. Pretend that nothing's happening."

Stiles faced Scott and tried to come up with something to say. Usually he was a talkative guy and had no trouble finding something to say—whether it was random, annoying, funny, or even offensive—but now that he was under pressure, there was nothing floating through his mind.

"Say something!" Scott hissed. "Talk to me!"

"I can't think of anything!" Stiles waved his arms nervously. "My mind's a complete blank."

Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "_Your_ mind's blank?" he asked in disbelief, having heard thousands of Stiles' rants before. "You can't think of _anything_ to say?"

"Not under this kind of pressure," Stiles defended himself, wincing. He faced Jackson again and saw that he wasn't sitting next to Olivia anymore. "FYI, he's not even sitting with them anymore."

Scott looked over at Jackson's previous table. "Where the hell is he?"

Scott stiffened again and Stiles guessed that Jackson was talking to him from wherever he was hiding. Scott's eyebrows furrowed further and further and his eyes narrowed into slits as whatever Jackson said made him angry.

"Scott, come on, you can't let him do this," he muttered supportively. "You can't let him have this kind of power over you, okay?"

Scott didn't seem to hear him as he gripped his lunch tray. It started shaking in his grasp until Scott clenched it so tightly that it broke in half. The breaking of plastic made a loud noise, causing everyone in the cafeteria to look over at them.

"All right," Stiles sighed, grabbing Scott's backpack from the floor. "Let's get out of here."

"Here's the thing, UCLA is doing pretty well this season," Olivia tried to convince Jackson as they walked down the hallway together. "They played a clip of their last game on ESPN the other night and—"

One of Jackson's favorite things to talk about was sports and Olivia was his only friend that would talk about them with him. Danny, though he was on the lacrosse and cross country team, didn't care for many other sports, especially not the ones aired on television. Although Olivia much preferred football over basketball, she kept up with the local college teams. It was one of the things that she and Jackson mainly bonded over.

Jackson seemed pretty happy today but for some reason, Olivia didn't think it was because March Madness was coming up.

"They're not as good as Duke, though," Jackson cut her off, bragging about his mom's alma mater.

"Well, Duke's not as good as Kentucky," Olivia stuck her tongue out at him and laughed when he nudged her in the side.

"Whatever."

"Jackson!" Lydia called as she marched up to them, looking furious; Olivia and Jackson came to a stop. "This little text isn't funny."

"No, I wasn't trying to be funny," Jackson said seriously. "I would have put a '_ha-ha'_ at the end of it. And see," he pointed to Lydia's phone. "there's no '_ha-ha'_."

Olivia shifted awkwardly, wishing that she wasn't anywhere near this conversation. She never liked when Lydia and Jackson fought.

Lydia pursed her lips and began to read the text message Jackson sent her, "_'Lydia, please give back my spare house key at your earliest convenience, as we are no longer dating_.'"

Olivia gaped at Jackson, shocked at the message he sent her cousin. He was an absolute dick to break up with her over a text message. He was an absolute dick anyway, but that was a horrible way to break up with someone.

Especially someone Olivia loved.

"You didn't lose it did you?" Jackson asked callously.

"What the hell is this?" Lydia hissed at him.

"Well, Lydia, in preparation for some big changes, I've decided to drop some of the dead weight in my life," Jackson explained flatly. "And you're just about the deadest."

Lydia flinched slightly. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Dumping, actually," Jackson corrected her. "I'm dumping you."

Jackson chuckled and went to walk away but Lydia grabbed the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"Dumped by the co-captain of the lacrosse team," she fumed, trying to rub the fact that Jackson wasn't the sole captain anymore in his face. "I wonder how many minutes it'll take me to get over that."

Jackson smirked and shrugged, blowing her a kiss as he walked away.

"Seconds, actually," Lydia called after him. "Seconds!"

Lydia's face crumpled when Jackson was out of sight and Olivia immediately sprang into action. She grabbed her cousin's arm and gently led her into the nearest bathroom. As Lydia stayed strong, she checked to see if any of the stalls were occupied.

She knew how important image was to Lydia. No breakdowns in front of the kids at school were allowed.

When Olivia was satisfied that no one was in the room with them, she turned back to Lydia. "Okay, you can cry now."

Lydia promptly burst into tears, her chest heaving with hiccupped breaths as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor. Olivia locked the bathroom door and got some napkins from a stall so Lydia could wipe her eyes.

She crouched down next to Lydia, giving her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Lyds."

Lydia shook her head and tried to stop crying. Like Olivia, she never cared to show weakness in front of anyone. Usually Olivia was her exception—much like Lydia was Olivia's exception—but for some reason, she felt like she needed to hide how heartbroken she really was.

"You don't have to hide," Olivia sat next to her, mentally cringing at the fact that she was sitting on a dirty bathroom floor—the things she did for her cousin. "It's me. I'm here for you."

"He's such an asshole," Lydia sniffled, grabbing the tissue from Olivia's hands to dap at her watery eyes. "As if he could do better than me."

"He _is_ an asshole," Olivia agreed. "You deserve better."

"I don't want better," Lydia frowned. "I love him."

Olivia sighed and wrapped an arm around Lydia's shoulder. She knew more than anyone how dysfunctional Lydia and Jackson's relationship was. They had only started dating for their popularity status but somewhere along the way, they developed real feelings for each other. They had fought before but they always came back together.

She didn't know what was going on with Jackson because she knew that he really did care for Lydia. It blew her mind how much of a dick he was being—more than usual, anyway.

"I know, Lyds, I know," Olivia said soothingly. As Lydia stopped crying, she dug through her bag and pulled out her concealer. "Here, you're mascara ran. Fix yourself up and we can go home and order pizza."

Lydia smiled at Olivia and reached up, squeezing the hand that laid on her shoulder. "Thanks, Liv. I love you."

"I love you, too," Olivia giggled. "Now, come on. You look like a racoon."

Stiles strutted into his bedroom and threw his backpack onto his bed, glad to finally be home. He had a lot of work to do before the game later and it all started with trying to track down whoever sent Allison and Olivia those messages on the night of the attack at the school.

He sat down at his desk, ready to look up some hacking tutorials, when his dad called for him.

"Hey, Stiles!"

Stiles spun in his chair. "Yo, D—Derek?" he gasped, seeing Derek Hale standing in the corner by his closet.

Derek pressed a finger to his lips and pointed at his door. Stiles scrambled off his chair and to his bedroom door, shutting it halfway behind him as he leaned against the frame.

Noah gave him a confused look. "What'd you say?"

"What?" Stiles tried to act casual. "I said '_Yo, Dad_!'"

Noah nodded, his eyebrows furrowing. "Uh, listen, I've got something I've got to take care of, but I'm gonna be there tonight," he promised. "I mean, it's your first game."

"My first game," Stiles repeated with a large smile. "Gosh, that's, uh, that's great. Awesome. Uh…good."

Noah nodded again, slowly smiling. "I'm very happy for you and I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks, me too," Stiles chuckled awkwardly. "I'm happy and proud…of myself."

_God, could I be anymore awkward?_

"So, they're really gonna let you play, right?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, Dad," Stiles confirmed with a smile. "I'm first line. Can you believe that?"

Noah chuckled. "I'm very proud."

"Me too. Again…I'm—oh," Stiles said as he was pulled into a hug. He patted his dad's back, resting his head on his shoulder. "Huggie, huggie, huggie."

He could have slapped himself as he pulled away from the hug and smiled awkwardly at his dad. Noah gave him a weird look but decided not to ask. He figured it was probably just nerves from his first game in a few hours.

"See you there," Noah waved before walking down the hallway.

"Take it easy," Stiles called after him. He entered his room again and firmly shut the door. "I'm sorry—"

He was cut off as Derek pushed him against his door, the werewolf's hand gripping the collar of his t-shirt.

"If you say one word," Derek threatened, pointing menacingly at the spastic teen.

"Oh, what, you mean, like, 'Hey, Dad, Derek Hale's in my room. Bring your gun'?" Stiles snapped at him. Derek lowered his accusing finger. "Yeah, that's right. If I'm harboring your fugitive ass, it's my house, my rules, buddy."

He emphasized his statement by slapping Derek's shoulder. Derek glared down at the shoulder he hit and nodded, slowly letting go of Stiles' shirt. He straightened out Stiles' jacket, his glare never leaving his face.

Stiles laughed nervously and reached forward, copying the werewolf's actions and straightening the leather jacket Derek wore. Derek lunged toward him, acting as though he was going to attack, and Stiles flinched away.

"Fuck," he cursed breathlessly, collapsing in his desk chair. "What are you even doing here?"

"Ollie texted me, she said you wanted to see me for some plan," Derek explained flatly. Stiles smiled slightly, both at Derek's nickname for Olivia and the fact that she managed to get her cousin over here for him, despite the fact that he hadn't asked her. "So Scott didn't get the necklace?"

"No, he's still working on it," Stiles sighed. "but there's something else we can try."

Derek gave him a questioning look.

"The night we were trapped at the school, I sent a text to Olivia asking her to meet me there," he told Derek.

Derek shrugged. "So?"

"So, it wasn't me."

Derek's eyes narrowed as he thought about what Stiles was saying. "Well, can you find out who sent it?"

"I was going to, but it might be quicker if I get someone who already knows how," Stiles pulled his phone from his pocket and messaged Danny, asking him to meet up. He also took that time to inform Olivia what was going on and invited her to help him and Derek.

Danny, who thought that Stiles wanted to work on the chemistry lab they were assigned, agreed to come over. Soon after, Stiles got a text from Olivia, telling him she was on her way.

"So, what is the plan exactly?" Olivia asked fifteen minutes later as Stiles led her into his room. She gave Derek a quick side hug and then sat on Stiles' bed.

Stiles couldn't believe that Olivia Martin—the girl he's had a crush on for years and spent many nights fantasizing about in that very room—was sitting on his bed. It was like God had blessed him all of a sudden. He didn't know how he got his good karma, but he wasn't complaining.

"Uh, Danny's coming over to trace the text that I supposedly sent to you," Stiles told her. "You know, on the night we were trapped at the school?"

"Oh, that's a good idea," Olivia complimented him, surprised.

"I always have good ideas."

"No, you don't."

"Name one bad idea," Stiles dared her, raising an expectant eyebrow.

"Okay, um, weren't you the one who decided to go into the woods at night to search for my cousin's dead body?" Olivia asked rhetorically. "And wasn't that the night that Scott was bit—"

"Okay, I get it," Stiles cut her off. "Other than that, though…"

"Nope."

"Yes."

"_No, Stiles."_

"_Yes, Olivia."_

"You're out of your—"

"Can you guys shut up?" Derek spoke up, giving both of them an annoyed look. "Someone just pulled up."

Stiles went downstairs to greet Danny and came back up moments later. He quickly explained to Danny that they needed him to trace a text before they could do their homework.

"You want me to do what?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"Trace a text," Stiles repeated himself.

"I came here to do lab work," Danny pointed out. "That's what lab partners do."

"And we will," Stiles assured him, becoming frustrated. "once you trace the text."

Danny crossed his arms over his chest. "And what makes you think I know how?"

"I—I looked up your arrest report, so…" Stiles admitted with a sheepish shrug.

"I was thirteen," Danny defended himself, looking over at Olivia; she just smiled at him. "They dropped the charges."

Stiles raised his hands; he wasn't judging. "Whatever."

"No," Danny stubbornly shook his head and pulled Stiles' extra chair over to his desk. "We're doing lab work."

Olivia sighed as Stiles groaned in frustration, turning toward his computer. "Oh, my God!"

As Stiles typed in his password for his Google Documents account, Danny looked over at Derek, who was sitting quietly next to Olivia, flipping through the pages of Stiles' English textbook.

"Who's he again?" Danny quietly asked Stiles, covertly pointing at him.

Olivia was grateful that Danny had never met Derek before.

"Uh," Stiles wracked his brain for a fake identity. "my cousin…Miguel."

Both Olivia and Derek raised their eyebrows at him.

Danny looked at Derek again and then turned back to Stiles. "Is that blood on his t-shirt?"

Stiles eyed Derek's gray shirt and was dismayed to find that, yes, there was blood on it.

"Yeah, yes, well…"

"He gets horrible nosebleeds," Olivia spoke up, seeing Stiles' struggle.

"Yep," Stiles nodded in agreement, turning toward Derek. "Hey, Miguel?"

Derek slowly looked up from the textbook, his eyes narrowed.

"I thought I told you that you could borrow one of my shirts," Stiles said pointedly, nodding to his dresser next to his bed.

Olivia had to bite her cheek to hold back her laughter as Derek snapped the textbook shut and threw it on the bed. He stomped over to Stiles' dresser and pulled out a drawer, messily rummaging through it.

"So, anyway," Stiles turned back to Danny, who was watching Derek take off his shirt. "I mean, we both know you have the skills to trace that text, so we should probably—"

Derek, who was holding a shirt in his hands, interrupted him. "Uh, Stiles?"

Stiles sighed and looked at him. "Yes?"

"This," Derek held up the black t-shirt. "no fit."

Stiles gave him an annoyed look. "Then try something else on."

Derek glared at him and went back to finding a shirt. Stiles apologized to Danny and went to beg him to trace the text when Olivia caught his attention. She subtly pointed to Danny and then to Derek before curling her hands into a heart.

Stiles looked at his teammate, seeing that he was staring at Derek's naked back.

"Oh," he drawled quietly as Derek pulled on an orange-and-blue striped shirt. "Hey, that one looks pretty good, huh?" he grinned at Danny. "What do you think, Danny?"

Danny gave him a confused look. "Huh?"

"The shirt," Stiles pointed at Derek.

Danny laughed nervously. "It's not really his color."

"I agree," Olivia spoke up, wrinkling her nose at the shirt as Derek glared at her. "Orange and blue aren't a good combination."

"But it's the colors of the Mets," Stiles argued.

Olivia raised her eyebrows at him. "Exactly," she turned back to Derek. "The shirt's a little small, Miguel."

Derek huffed and tore the shirt over his head. Stiles smirked at Danny.

"You swing for a different team but you still play ball, don't you, Danny boy?" he quipped lowly.

"You're a horrible person."

"I know, it keeps me awake at night," Stiles said casually. "Anyway, about that text…"

"Stiles!" Derek exclaimed, angrily waving a brown shirt around. "None of these fit."

Stiles gave Danny a hopeful look while Olivia held her breath.

Danny sighed. "I'll need the ISP, the phone number, and the exact time of the text."

When Danny started typing into the computer, Stiles pumped his fist in celebration and gave Derek and Olivia a thumbs' up, as though they didn't hear Danny agree to help. Derek rolled his eyes and slipped on a dark-gray t-shirt he found minutes ago.

Olivia gave Danny the information he needed and within ten minutes, he had everything pulled up.

"There, the text was sent from a computer," Danny pointed at the screen. "This one."

Olivia and Derek, who were standing right behind Stiles and Danny, leaned forward to get a better look at the screen. In red text, the computer's display name read: _Beacon Hills Hospital—Melissa McCall._

"Registered to that account name?" Olivia asked in shock.

There was no way Scott's own mother was the alpha who bit him, right? It just didn't make any sense.

"No, no, no," Stiles shook his head. "That can't be right."

After Danny went home, Olivia, Stiles, and Derek decided that they were going to the hospital. They all agreed that Melissa couldn't possibly be the alpha and that someone had probably used her account to make sure they weren't caught.

While Stiles drove them to the hospital, Scott sent Olivia a picture of Allison's necklace. After studying it, she showed it to Derek and Stiles. When Stiles parked outside the hospital, she called Scott to see if he had any more information.

"Hey, I'm with Stiles and Derek," she greeted him, putting the call on speaker so Stiles could hear.

"_Hey_," Scott said. "_Did you get the picture?"_

"Yeah, we did," Stiles was the one to answer him, leaning toward the phone so Scott could hear him clearly. "and it looks just like the drawing."

Derek grabbed Olivia's wrist, pulling it over to his face. "Hey, is there something on the back of it?" he questioned. "There's gotta be something. An inscription, an opening…something."

"_No, no, the thing's flat_," Scott denied. "_And no, it doesn't open. There's nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing,"_ he sighed and added, "_Where are you? Stiles, you're supposed to be here. You're first line."_

In the background, they could hear Coach call, "_Where the hell is Bilinski?"_

"_Man, you're not gonna play if you're not here to start_," Scott reminded Stiles.

Oliva frowned as Stiles sighed sadly. "I know," he nodded. "Look, if you see my dad, can you tell him I'll be there. I'll just be a little late, okay?"

"_Okay_."

"All right, thanks."

"Bye, Scott," Olivia said before hanging up the call.

"_Bye_."

As Olivia put her phone in her jacket, Derek pointed out the obvious, "You're not gonna make it."

Stiles glared at him. "I know."

"And you didn't tell him about his mom, either," Derek added.

"We agreed that Melissa wasn't the alpha," Olivia reminded him.

"Until we know the truth, I'm not telling him anything," Stiles declared.

"By the way, one more thing?"

Stiles looked over at Derek. "Yeah?"

Derek reached up and grabbed the back of Stiles' head, slamming it into the steering wheel. Stiles screeched as his forehead made contact and sent a painful pulse through his head.

"Derek, what the hell?!" Olivia shrieked, leaning forward in shock.

"What the fuck was that for?" Stiles moaned, pressing his palm against his forehead.

"You know what that was for," Derek said forcefully before pointing out the windshield. "Go! _Go_!"

Stiles hissed in pain, wincing dramatically, and opened his door, practically dragging his body out of the Jeep. Olivia rolled her eyes and cuffed the back of Derek's head as she crawled out behind him.

"Sorry about that," Olivia apologized as they walked into the hospital doors closest to the long-term wing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fantastic," Stiles muttered sarcastically, rubbing his red forehead. "Am I bruising?"

Olivia peeked at his forehead and shook her head. "No. When you get home, put an ice pack on it."

"It won't scar?"

"Considering that the skin didn't break? No, it won't scar," Olivia rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're so dramatic."

"Yeah, yeah," Stiles waved her off and stopped in his tracks, looking around the empty hallway just off the long-term lobby. "Does it seem a little quiet to you?"

"Yeah," Olivia frowned, looking over at the receptionist's desk; Cheryl wasn't there like she usually was. "Call Derek."

Stiles obeyed, quickly calling Derek. When the werewolf picked up, he put the call on speaker and quickly explained that the hospital was practically empty.

"Yeah, I said no one's here," Stiles repeated himself after Derek said the call had broken up. He and Olivia walked into the lobby and carefully looked around.

"_Olivia, ask for Jennifer_," Derek suggested.

"Who's Jennifer?" Stiles asked, looking to Olivia for an answer.

"She's my dad's she-devil of a nurse," Olivia replied, rolling her eyes at the thought of the red-haired bitch.

She walked away from Stiles and made her way to her dad's room. The door was open and when she walked in, she was shocked to find that her dad's wheelchair was empty.

"Yeah, well, he's not here either," Stiles told Derek as Olivia looked into the open room with a shocked expression.

"_What_?"

"He's not here," Stiles repeated himself. "He's gone, Derek."

Olivia's mind raced, trying to come up with an explanation as to why her dad wasn't in his room. Was Jennifer giving him a bath or something?

Then she heard Derek's panicked voice over the speaker, "_Stiles, Olivia, get the hell out of there right now! It's him, he's the alpha! Get out!"_

Olivia slowly turned, as if on autopilot, and saw her dad standing to her right. Her thoughts were sluggish and panicked, as though she was drowning underwater and fighting to get to the surface.

Peter Hale looked the same as he had for the last six years since the fire that killed the rest of their family. The right side of his face was still disfigured, heavily scarred from the burns he received when he was escaping for his life. He was standing, though, and Olivia could see the life in his eyes for the first time since the fire.

She couldn't believe this. She just couldn't. Her dad—who she loved so dearly—was the murderous alpha. He had killed Laura. He killed the bus driver, the video store employee, the school janitor, and who knows who else. He had attacked her and Jackson at the video store and then again at the school with the rest of her friends. He had tried to kill Derek. He tried to have Scott kill _her_. He attacked her himself.

_No, no, no,_ she thought, _this can't be happening_.

Peter smiled at her. "Hello, my darling."

And though she was glad he was healed, she didn't want it to be like this. _Never like this. _

Stiles grabbed Olivia's arm and pulled her away from Peter, backing them both up slowly.

Peter's smile turned hard. "You must be Stiles."

Stiles silently gulped; he certainly didn't picture meeting Olivia's father like this. He had pictured a more formal setting—like his hospital room—at a better time—like when he couldn't scare the shit out of him—with a cause of celebration—like announcing his and Olivia's engagement or something.

_At least now I know why she and Lydia don't look alike_, he thought to himself.

Olivia was all brown hair and blue eyes, just like Peter Hale.

Stiles came to his senses and tugged on Olivia's arm, turning away from Peter. He stopped when he came face-to-face with a middle-aged nurse with red hair.

"What are you two doing here?" she asked sternly. "Visiting hours are over."

Stiles gaped at her and looked back at Peter. "You and him? You're—you're the one who—" he stammered, flinching. "Oh, my—and he's—oh, my God, we're gonna die."

Olivia shook her head, the panic in Stiles' voice bringing her out of her daze. "We're not gonna die."

As if emphasizing Olivia's statement, Derek ran into the lobby and elbowed Jennifer in the face. The nurse fell to the ground, unconscious, with blood pouring out of her nose.

Peter clicked his tongue. "That's not nice," he scolded his nephew. "she's my nurse."

"She's the psychotic bitch helping you kill people," Derek spat before glancing at Olivia and Stiles. "Get out of the way."

"Oh, fuck," Stiles cursed, forcefully pulling Olivia out of the line of fire.

Olivia let herself be dragged behind the reception desk but she kept her eyes on her dad and Derek.

Peter slowly walked toward Derek. "You think I killed Laura on purpose?" he asked calmly. "One of my own family?"

Derek growled ferociously and lunged, jumping on the wall to get better height so he could slash at Peter's face. Peter grabbed him and pushed him against the opposite wall, crushing the drywall behind him, and slammed him on the floor.

Derek rolled onto his back and tried to get up, but Peter grabbed him by the throat, squeezing it slightly.

"My mind, my personality were literally burned out of me," Peter said flatly as he dragged Derek down the hallway, ignoring his attempts to escape. "I was being driven by pure instinct."

He dropped Derek next to Jennifer and bent down over her, pulling her keys from her pocket. Derek grunted and got to his feet.

"You want forgiveness?" he asked, slamming his fist into Peter's face.

Peter blocked another punch and grabbed the collar of Derek's jacket, head-butting him. Olivia winced, trying to think of what she could do.

"I want understanding," Peter replied, kicking Derek in the stomach.

Derek flew down the hallway, rolling onto his back and landing on his stomach.

"Do you have any idea what it was like for me during those years?" Peter asked as Derek spat out some blood onto the floor and tried to get up. "Slowly healing, cell by cell. Even more slowly coming back to consciousness?"

Stiles tugged on Olivia's hand, trying to pull her down behind the desk, but she shrugged him off.

"Yes," Peter continued, steadily making his way back to Derek. "becoming an alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process. I can't help that."

Derek jumped up and tried to punch him but Peter dodged his fists each time. He grabbed both of Derek's hands and forced them down, breaking the bones in his arms and making him groan in pain.

"I tried to tell you what was happening," Peter's voice raised as he looked over at Olivia. "I tried to warn you."

Olivia remembered what Derek had said about finding an article about a spiral carved into a deer's carcass on his windshield. And then she thought about how Scott had seen the alpha at Allison's house and he drew a spiral in the condensation on his window.

Peter picked Derek up and threw him toward Olivia; Derek fell into her, pushing both of them onto the ground. Stiles crawled toward them and helped Derek roll off of Olivia.

"Go," Derek whispered to Olivia. "Ollie, go."

Olivia adamantly shook her head, her vision blurring from her hard fall. "I'm not leaving you."

Derek looked to Stiles. "Get her out of here."

Stiles nodded and, as he pulled Olivia out from behind the desk to make their way out of the hospital, Derek crawled back to Peter to distract him long enough for them to get away.


	10. Investigation

**[1x10; Co-Captain]**

"Siri, buddy, come on," Olivia called, her bare feet freezing against the cold concrete surrounding her pool as she waited for her puppy to finish going to the bathroom. "Let's go, Sirius!"

Bringing her fingers up to her mouth, she whistled. After a few seconds of waiting in silence, she huffed and started walking to the gate that separated her yard from the preserve. She wished that she had thought to put on shoes because, while their grass was pretty soft and the dog waste was picked up every-other day, there were still some pebbles and sticks pricking the sensitive skin on the bottom of her foot.

"Sirius, are you there, bud?"

The light from the moon gleamed against the grass, lighting up the gate enough that Olivia could see without a flashlight. The gate was open—which meant that Sirius was probably somewhere in the preserve right about now.

_Damn it_, Olivia thought, _Lydia's gonna kill me._

"Siri?" Olivia called, stepping out of the limits of her backyard. "Sirius?"

From her left, a branch snapped in half; Olivia whipped around at the noise and almost screamed when she saw two figures in the shadows of the trees. Before she could make a sound, Peter and Derek stepped out into the moonlight.

Sirius was in Derek's arms, happily rubbing his head against his leather jacket.

"Cute dog," Peter said casually, crossing his arms over his chest.

Olivia's bottom lips quivered as she looked from her dad—his face now fully healed—to Derek, who didn't look happy at all. His pale-green eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched tightly. He was fully healed from his fight with Peter at the hospital, though his clothes were still stained with blood.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly as Derek let Sirius down.

The puppy ran over to Olivia; she scooped him up and pressed him protectively to her chest.

"I'm here for you, of course," Peter said, a hint of a smile curling his lips.

Olivia didn't like his smile anymore; there was something menacing about it.

"Ollie, cupcake, don't you want to be in my pack?" Peter stepped closer to Olivia but she stepped away just as quickly.

There had been a time when all she wanted to do was run into her father's arms—things had obviously changed.

"No, I don't," Olivia said defiantly, raising her chin. She sent Derek a hard look, unable to believe that he was actually working with her father. Peter had killed Laura, for God's sake.

"We're family."

"You killed your family!" Olivia exclaimed, looking at him with wet, accusing eyes. "You killed Laura, you nearly killed me, Dad!"

"I wasn't actually going to kill you," Peter rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "You just happened to be there."

"Yeah, that's why you had Jennifer lure me to school that night," Olivia threw back at him. "so we could have a little dad-and-daughter chat while Scott was ordered to kill me and my friends."

"Enough Olivia," Peter said, his voice growing stern. "I'm trying to make things right."

"You're murdering people!"

"Only the ones responsible," he explained, stepping closer to her. "Don't you understand? I'm killing the ones who did this to me, to your mother."

Olivia gasped softly in realization, tears falling from her eyes. All of these murders, the victims had something to do with the fire? They worked with Kate Argent to kill her family. Her mother?

Peter nodded, as though he could read her mind. "Every one of them," he said strongly. "Don't you want to help me get revenge? To help me finish what I started?"

It was tempting—it was so tempting. She hated Kate Argent so much for what she did to her family and she had always wanted to get revenge on the hunter. She didn't know that other people had been involved with Kate but they helped kill her family too. A dark part of her knew that they deserved what they got.

But the other part of her, the larger part, knew that revenge wouldn't solve anything—for her, at least. Her mother would have never wanted her to kill anyone, not even if they deserved it. Grace Martin was a forgiving soul through and through and though Olivia could hold a grudge, she wanted to be a person that her mother could be proud of.

Killing Kate wouldn't solve her grief over her mother's death. It wouldn't do anything but rob Allison of family—and wouldn't that make her just as bad as Kate? Who even knew that Peter was going to stop at Kate? What if he went for the whole Argent family?

Throughout the time Olivia had gotten to know Allison, she'd come to love her. She was one of her closest friends and she didn't deserve to pay for what Kate did. She was innocent, just like Olivia's family was.

Olivia shook her head. "No, _no_!" she shouted; Peter's eyes hardened. "I'm not a killer, Dad. I know that they deserve it but it wouldn't change anything, okay? Mom's still gone; she's not coming back. Please, just stop this."

Peter smiled bitterly, his blue eyes glowering at her. "I'm not going to stop."

He turned around and walked into the preserve, leaving Olivia horrified and afraid of what was to come.

Giving Derek a betrayed look, Olivia ran back into her yard and locked the gate before rushing back into her house. She made sure the alarm was on and the locks were secure; with Lydia and Natalie in the house, she was nervous that somehow Peter and Derek could get in and harm them.

When she entered her bedroom and set Sirius on her bed, she jumped when her phone rang. To her relief, it wasn't Peter or Derek; it was Stiles.

"Hello?"

"_Olivia, we have a serious problem_," Stiles practically shouted. "_Derek's with Peter._"

"Yeah," Olivia said sullenly. "I know. The showed up at my house."

"_Wait, are you serious?"_ Stiles asked nervously. "_Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?"_

"No, no, I'm fine."

"_You're not—you're not with them, are you?"_ his voice turned hesitant. _"I mean—"_

Olivia was taken aback by his question. Sure, they didn't know each other that well, but she thought Stiles knew her enough that she wouldn't join her dad and kill people.

"No, uh, I have to go, Stiles," Olivia didn't want to talk anymore. "Um, yeah, I have to go."

"_Wait, Livvy—"_

"Bye."

Olivia ended the call in the middle of Stiles' protests and fell face-first on her bed, tears already springing to her eyes.

"Holy shit, go!"

Scott pounded encouragingly on the dashboard as Stiles pressed on the gas pedal, speeding through the Iron Works. Stiles' eyes darted back and forth between the road and Scott, who's head was sticking out of the window like a dog's.

"Am I going the right way?" Stiles called to him.

"Yeah, keep going straight!" Scott gave him a thumb's up. "Hurry, I caught Mr. Argent's scent."

Stiles cursed under his breath and sped up.

At the lacrosse game, while Stiles, Derek, and Olivia were confronting Peter, Scott had overheard a conversation between Kate and Chris Argent. Kate had spotted the scratches on the back of Jackson's neck and asked Mr. Argent about it, who told her that it _was_ possible to change into a werewolf through a scratch.

So, now the Argents thought that Jackson was the second beta. It was good for Scott but not for Jackson.

That was how Stiles found himself driving through the warehouse district, looking for Jackson's stupid Porsche.

"All right, it's there," Scott fell back into his seat and pointed at an upcoming warehouse.

Stiles turned into the driveway and went down the ramp, spotting Jackson's Porsche and Mr. Argents red SUV. Jackson and Mr. Argent were standing at the back of his sports car, the trunk popped open.

He squealed to a stop.

"What's up?" he greeted Mr. Argent and Jackson with an overly friendly wave.

Scott smiled. "Is everything okay?"

"Hey, Scott," Mr. Argent smiled tensely. "your friend, here, was having car trouble. We're just taking a look."

Stiles gave an impressed sound as Scott commented, "There's a shop right down the street. I'm sure they have a tow truck."

"Yeah," Stiles added, looking over at Jackson. "You want a ride?"

Scott opened his door as Jackson blinked uncertainly.

"Hey, come on, Jackson," Stiles tried to persuade him. "you're way too pretty to be out here all by yourself."

He couldn't believe he just said that but it was, unfortunately, necessary. Olivia would kill him if he had an opportunity to help Jackson and instead the lacrosse co-captain got hurt.

Jackson pressed his lips together and nodded; he walked toward the Jeep while Scott jumped out to let him in and Stiles kept an eye on Mr. Argent. The hunter bent down over the Porsche's engine for a brief second before closing it.

He walked to the driver's door and pulled it open. "Hey, boys," he called, leaning down to turn the key; the engine rolled over. "told you I knew a few things about cars."

Mr. Argent smirked at them and got back into his SUV, driving away.

As soon as he was out of sight, Jackson angrily turned to Scott. "What, are you following me now?"

Scott slammed his door shut and faced Jackson, his jaw clenched in irritation. "Yes, you stupid fucking idiot!" he exclaimed. "You almost gave away everything right there!"

Stiles jumped out of the Jeep and made his way over to Jackson and Scott, figuring that he'd have to break up a fight.

Jackson scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

"He thinks you're the second beta."

"What?" Jackson blinked in shock.

"He thinks you're me!" Scott slammed his fist into the side of the Jeep, grunting with hostility.

"Dude," Stiles objected. "my Jeep!"

Scott ignored him. "I can hear your heart beating from a mile away, literally!" Scott told Jackson. "Now he thinks that there's something wrong and now I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"

Scott growled and went to hit the Jeep again but Stiles pulled him back.

"Okay, how about we step away from Stiles' Jeep," he recommended.

"You know what, this is your problem, not mine!" Jackson declared, angrily pointing at Scott. "I didn't say anything, which means you're the one that's gonna get me killed, okay?" he pushed Scott into the Jeep. "This is your fault!"

Stiles threw his hands up in exasperation. "Can we stop hitting my Jeep?" he cried. When Scott pushed Jackson back, he intervened. "Yo, all right, guys. Stop, all right?"

Jackson backed away and ripped Stiles' hand off his shoulder.

"When they come after you, I won't be able to protect you," Scott seethed at Jackson before calming down and looking at Stiles. "I can't protect anyone."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at Scott. "Why are you looking at me?"

Scott just pressed his lips together and looked back at Jackson. Jackson rolled his eyes.

"You know, now you have to do it," he said. "Get me what I want and I'll be fine protecting myself."

"No, you won't!" Scott disagreed. "Just trust me. All it does is make things worse."

"Oh, yeah, really?" Jackson said in disbelief. "You can hear anything you want and run faster than humanly possible. That sounds like a real hardship, McCall."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I can run really fast now, except half the time, I'm running away from people trying to kill me!" he stated. "And I can hear things like my girlfriend telling people that she doesn't trust me anymore right before breaking up with me."

Jackson scoffed, shaking his head.

"I'm not lying to you," Scott continued. "It ruins your life."

Jackson shook his head again. "It ruined your life," he scoffed. "You had all the power in the world and you didn't know what to do with it. You know what it's actually like? It's like you turned sixteen and someone bought you a Porsche when they should have started you out with a nice little Honda."

Jackson stepped toward Scott, lowering his voice. "Me? I drive a Porsche."

He turned around and didn't spare them another glance as he got into his Porsche and drove away.

Stiles sighed heavily. "I really hate that guy."

Lydia huffed loudly as she, Olivia, and Allison walked through the preserve, the cold air prickling unpleasantly at her skin. Olivia rolled her eyes at her cousin's aggravation and continued following Allison, a little more than curious about what the taller brunette was carrying in the large black bag swung over her shoulder.

"Allison, when you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping, a five-mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting," Lydia was limping a bit, having worn high heels that seemed impractical even for the mall.

Olivia stuffed her glove-clad hands into her coat. "What are we even doing out here?" she asked Allison. "Is this so our calves look better in heels?"

Allison snickered at her. "No, I just want to see something," she rolled her eyes. "Oh, Lydia, before I forget, I wanted to ask if you're okay with something."

"Go for it."

"Jackson asked me to the winter formal," Allison admitted, her voice a little triumphant.

Lydia faltered and Olivia concerned, giving her cousin a concerned look.

She knew what Allison was trying to do but she wasn't going to get into the middle of it. Both Allison and Lydia were in the wrong.

"Did he?" Lydia's voice shook.

"Mmhm," Allison nodded with a smirk. "Just as friends but I just wanted to make sure you're okay with it first."

Lydia took a second to answer. "Sure," she said shortly. "as long as it's just friends."

"Well, yeah, I mean," Allison laughed bitterly. "it's not like I would take him to the coach's office during lacrosse practice to make out with him or anything."

"Uh," Lydia winced, ashamed. "About that…"

"Don't bother lying about it, Jackson already told me," Allison said sharply.

"I wasn't going to lie," Lydia declared. "I was going to apologize."

Allison hummed as the three of them stopped walking when they came upon a small clearing.

"Allison, I'm sorry," Lydia apologized sincerely. "I shouldn't have kissed Scott. I was angry with Jackson but that's no excuse."

Allison set her bad on the ground and knelt next to it, looking up at Lydia for a moment. "Thanks."

Lydia nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, stepping closer to Olivia for warmth.

"Okay, this area will do," Allison declared, unzipping her bag.

"Will do for what?" Olivia asked and gasped loudly as Allison pulled a crossbow out of the bag. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a crossbow," Allison answered, pulling a shooting glove onto her right hand. She grabbed an arrow and something that looked like pinecone made out of lead. "I want to see something."

She started screwing the mysterious pinecone onto the end of an arrow, so Olivia assumed it was supposed to be some kind of arrowhead.

"What does that even do?" Lydia eyed it carefully.

Allison smirked. "We're about to find out."

She stood up and placed the arrow in the bow; she pulled back the string, aimed at a tree on the edge of the clearing, and let go. The arrow soared through the air and when it hit the three, it exploded, flashing brightly.

Olivia gaped at the sparkling tree, now figuring out what exactly that arrowhead was. Derek had told her about them; they were flash bolts. When they make contact with something, the flash that happens blinds werewolves—or any creature that has sensitive eyes.

_Shit, _Olivia thought_, this is not good. _

"What the hell was that?" Lydia breathed.

Allison put down her bow, looking thoughtful. "I don't know."

"Well," Lydia clapped sarcastically. "that was fun! Any more lethal weapons you wanna try out?"

A branch snapped somewhere in the distance; Olivia and Allison's heads turned at the noise.

Olivia really hoped it wasn't Peter again; she couldn't protect Allison against him. If even Derek could hardly get a good punch on him, she was absolutely screwed.

Allison held her bow out to Olivia. "Hold this."

"What?" Lydia asked sharply as Olivia hesitantly took the bow and awkwardly held it away from her body. "Why does she need to hold it?"

"Because I thought I heard something," Allison whispered, taking off her glove.

"So what if you heard something?" Lydia whispered back.

"So," Allison gave her an annoyed look. "I want to find out what that something is. Don't worry," she assured Lydia and Olivia when they gave her panicked looks. "it's probably nothing."

"Allison, no!" Olivia hissed worriedly. "What if that nothing is something and that something is something dangerous?"

"Shoot it," Allison said, walking away.

"Oh, God," Olivia groaned as Allison walked out of sight. "Lyds, hold this," she handed Lydia the bow, ignoring the redhead's protests.

"Why?" Lydia whimpered, pouting at her.

"Hold on, okay?" Olivia pulled her phone out of her coat and quickly pulled up her messages with Stiles.

_**Livvy**__: Please tell me that Scott's following us_

_**Livvy**__: Please_

Olivia and Lydia gasped as they heard some grunting in the direction that Allison had walked to.

"Uh, should we call the police or something?" Lydia asked, her voice high.

Olivia's phone buzzed in her hand.

_**Stiles**__: Yeah, he is. Why?_

_**Stiles**__: You okay?_

Reading the messages, Olivia sighed in relief.

"No, I think it's okay," she assured Lydia, texting Stiles back.

_**Livvy**__: All's good_

The words were hardly out of her mouth when Allison came back over to them, grabbing her bow from Lydia's grasp. She looked sad as she packed up her bag and threw it over her shoulder.

"Are you okay, Al?" Olivia asked quietly.

"Yeah," Allison confirmed. "I just don't feel like shopping today."

Lydia shrugged. "Well, we've got three days."

Stiles read the text message from Olivia, grateful that she was okay, and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He paused his video game and ran out of the living room, successfully sliding across the kitchen tiles toward his fridge.

Laughing to himself, he grabbed the half-empty milk carton and unscrewed the cap, drinking straight out of the bottle. He went to bring it back into the living room with him but he caught sight of his dad sitting at the dining room table, files, paperwork, and pictures spread out in front of him.

He put the milk back into the fridge and stepped into the dining room.

"Whatcha doing?" he innocently asked his dad.

Noah adjusted his reading glasses. "Work."

"Anything that I can help with?"

Noah glanced away from the file he was reading. "You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey," he showed Stiles how much he wanted, spreading his fingers an inch apart. "that would be awfully nice."

Stiles eagerly walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out the brand-new bottle of Jack Daniels he put there to replace the one he stole a few days before. He picked up a glass and walked back into the dining room, taking a seat at the table.

"Any leads?" he asked, reaching forward to pick up a discarded file. Noah slapped his hand away.

Noah shook his pen at him. "You know I can't discuss that with you," he said sternly. As Stiles opened the bottle of whiskey, he added, "Not too much."

Stiles nodded and poured an ounce of whiskey into the glass. He went to put the cap back on the bottle but paused thoughtfully. Whenever his dad was tipsy, he was a lot more talkative about his work with Stiles…maybe he would tell him what was going on in the Derek case.

He poured more whiskey into the glass until it was full.

"Okay," he sighed, putting the glass on the coaster by Noah's hand. "There ya go, Dad."

"Thanks."

"Bottoms up."

Noah's eyes didn't leave the file in his hand as he picked up the glass and took a drink. He emptied the glass without noticing how full it actually was. It was only five minutes later when the alcohol started to affect him.

"You know," he said, setting the glass down. "Derek Hale would be a whole hale of a lot—" he paused, cocking his head in confusion. "_Hale_ of a lot?"

Stiles tried not to smirk because that was a great pun that he couldn't wait to try out on Olivia—he knew that she would probably roll her eyes at him or something cute like that.

"_Hell_ of a lot?" Stiles suggested, trying to make it seem like he wasn't correcting his dad.

Noah grinned and pointed at him. "_Hell_. Yes, he would be a hell of a lot easier to catch if we could get an actual picture of him."

Stiles gave him a confused look. "How do you not have a picture of him?"

"It's the weirdest thing," Noah admitted. "It's like every time we tried to get a mug shot, it's like two…laser beams were pointing at the camera."

Stiles grabbed the picture out of his dad's hands. Two blue lens flares were blocking Derek's whole face, which he thought was kind of cool. It was like his own personal photo-blocker or something.

"Nice."

"Oh, my God," Noah groaned, taking off his glasses and leaning back in his chair. "God, that ounce hit me like a brick," he shook his head and pointed at Stiles again. "and I have said way too much and if you repeat any of that—"

"Dad, it's me," Stiles cut him off with a chuckle, innocently gesturing to himself. "I'm not gonna say anything. Come on."

Noah smiled at him and sighed as he looked back at the files on the table. Stiles picked one up and pulled out its contents, seeing old newspaper articles about the fire at the Hale house.

"See, the thing is, they're all connected," Noah said thoughtfully. "I mean, the bus driver that got killed? He was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire."

Stiles leaned forward, looking at the file on the bus driver that Noah had in front of him. _"'Terminated under suspicion of fraud,_'" he read.

Noah nodded. "Exactly."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Who else?"

Noah dragged another file in front of him. "The video store clerk who got his throat slashed," he pulled a picture of the slashed throat out of the file. "He's a convicted felon, history of arson."

Stiles blinked, putting down the newspaper articles. "What about the other two guys?" he asked, referring to the two victims the police found on the night of the full moon. "the guys who got killed in the woods?"

"Priors all over their records, including—"

"Arson," Stiles finished, horrified. "So maybe they all had something to do with the fire."

Scott had told him that Peter said he was going after the people responsible—now he knew what he meant. All the victims were allegedly involved in the fire and the murder of all those people in the Hale house.

In that moment, Stiles kind of understood Peter. If his mom had been killed by another other than a biological illness, he'd want revenge too.

But, still, killing your own niece?

Noah slammed a file shut, catching Stiles' attention.

"Another shot?" he asked his dad, grabbing the bottle of whiskey.

"No, no, no," Noah waved at him dismissively. "No more."

"Dad, come on," Stiles tried to convince him, wanting to know more about the case. "You work really hard, all right? You deserve it."

Noah sighed. "Oh, my God," he rubbed his face. "I'm gonna have such a hangover."

Stiles chuckled. "You mean you're gonna have such a good night's sleep," he corrected him and started pouring him another glass. He lowered his voice into a whisper, "and I'm gonna have an eternity in the lowest circle of Hell."

By the time the second glass of whiskey was gone, Noah was full-blown drunk. He tried to put the glass back on the table but ended up dropping it. Luckily, Stiles used his fast reflexes and grabbed it before it could shatter on the floor.

Noah gave him a thankful smile as he set it carefully on the table.

"Oh, Stiles," Noah sighed, resting his head on his fist. "there's just so many questions."

Stiles frowned. "Like what?"

"Like, if Derek wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire, then why start with his sister?" Noah asked, trying to find a motive that he never would figure out. "I mean, she had nothing to do with it. Why make it look like some kind of animal did it?"

Stiles pressed his lips together, feeling guilty. His dad was absolutely torn up about this case and he would probably never know the truth. Noah was a good cop—one of the only ones out there—and he took it personally whenever there was a case he couldn't solve.

"When that cougar ended up in the parking lot, I checked with animal control," Noah went on. "You know the instances of wild animal reports were up seventy percent over the past few months? It's like they're just going crazy, running out of the woods. I don't know…"

"Or something's scaring them out," Stiles thought about the herd of deer that almost ran over Scott on the night he was bitten by the alpha.

Noah slowly smiled at him. "You know, I miss talking to you," he confessed. "It's like we never have time—"

As if proving his dad right, Stiles dug his hand into his pocket, trying to find his phone. "Dad, I have to make a phone call. I'm sorry, I'll be right back."

"—I do," Noah said sadly, watching as Stiles stood up. "I miss it…and I miss your mom."

Stiles froze in shock, not expecting those words to come out of his dad's mouth.

He knew how much Noah loved his mom and how horribly he missed her. Noah and Claudia had still been madly in love when she was diagnosed with her Dementia when Stiles was eight. They hardly talked about her since she died, as they were still raw from the holes she left in their hearts.

The illness destroyed Claudia; she couldn't remember Noah on some days and she couldn't remember Stiles at all. At some points, she thought that Stiles was some random little boy out to get her. She was violent, anxious, and disoriented most of the time as her mind battled with itself. Her slow descent into a lifeless shell was the worst thing Stiles and Noah had ever gone through.

And they still hadn't healed yet.

Stiles turned around to face his dad, his eyes stinging. "What'd you say?"

Noah didn't answer; he reached for the whiskey bottle but Stiles walked forward and grabbed it from him.

Noah closed his eyes, whispering, "Thanks."

Half an hour later, after helping his dad to bed and cleaning up downstairs, Stiles stared up at his ceiling as he laid in bed.

He was thinking about his mom. The memories were starting to get blurry the more he aged but he treasured them so much. There was a time when Claudia taught him how to swim, the day in December when he was seven and they spent all day making cookies for Santa, the vacation their family took to Mexico and they had authentic tacos that Claudia loved.

Nothing was the same without her, that was for sure. Stiles and Noah were managing fine but they would have done anything to have Claudia back.

Claudia's death changed Stiles. Before his mom died, he didn't really know exactly what death was, even though his grandmother had died a few years previously. Until his mom died in front of him, he didn't realize that death doesn't just happen to you. It also happens to the people you leave behind.

And that was the honest-to-God truth. Stiles knew that; after all, his panic attacks started after his mom died, his temper got worse, his ADHD was out of control for a while. In his opinion, a person's death was worse on the people they leave when they go off to whatever afterlife they believe in.

That was why Stiles was growing more afraid of the situation with Peter Hale. He wanted to live, he did—especially for his dad—but he knew that if Scott or Olivia were killed in this mess, he'd be broken.

It was getting so intense and it scared the shit out of him.

His phone rang from his bedside table, making him jump. He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that it was Scott, and quickly answered it.

"Scott, what's up?"


	11. Formally Screwed

**[1x11; Formality]**

Olivia stood impatiently outside of Scott's house, ringing the doorbell for the third time in a minute. She rubbed her right side again, trying to stop the tingling that had been there since she woke up, and sighed heavily, annoyed with how long Scott was taking to answer his door.

At last, the door opened, revealing a bewildered and annoyed Scott McCall.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, walking past him into the house. "How are you? Are you okay? Are you all healed up? Thank God you answered the door, it was taking forever."

"Olivia, what are you doing here?" Scott asked, confused. He didn't remember inviting her over to his house…

"Oh," Olivia blinked. "Well, Stiles called to tell me that my dad went on a date with your mom and then he said that you were shot trying to rescue Jackson from Derek, which—by the way—I don't think he was going to kill him," she shook her head. "Jackson's a dick but not to the extent of murder. So, I wanted to see how you were doing and I also have a bad feeling."

Scott just stared at her, trying to absorb everything that she said. He had never seen Olivia Hale ramble before and he was pretty sure that she didn't take a breath throughout the whole thing.

And she was worried…about him?

"Scott?"

"Right, okay," Scott nodded. "I'm okay, Deaton helped me out."

"Dr. Deaton?" Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "As in your boss who you guys thought was the alpha for a minute?"

"Yes, that one," Scott confirmed, turning toward his staircase. "Come on up."

"Okay…"

"So, yeah, apparently Deaton knows about werewolves," he explained further as they walked up the stairs. "He didn't really say anything else, but when Peter came to the vet, he was complaining about the fact that he couldn't get in."

"Hmm," Olivia hummed. "Did my dad say anything else?"

"He's threatening to go to Allison," Scott told her, leading her to his room. As they walked in, Olivia waved at Stiles, who flailed spastically at the sight of her. "Oh, by the way, Derek's missing…"

"I know."

"You know?

"Yeah," Olivia nodded. "I already have a freak-out and now I'm ready to find him."

At first, when Stiles told Olivia about Derek being missing, she was frantic. Her anxiety, which she usually had a handle on and pushed deep down so she wouldn't have to think about, flared and she shed a few tears, but she steeled herself. If she was in Derek's position, he would do anything to find her.

Olivia would do the same to him.

"I'll help you," Scott declared. "I just have to find my phone…"

Olivia and Scott spent the next half-hour turning his room inside-out to try to find his phone. So far, they had no luck, and the fact that Stiles was sitting in Scott's desk chair just watching them was getting on Olivia's nerves.

"Are you going to help?" she snapped at him as she ducked out from under Scott's bed.

"I am helping," Stiles stated, holding up his phone. "I've been calling Scott."

"Yeah, that's really helpful, Stiles," she snarked at him. "I'm so glad you're here. We wouldn't be able to do it without you."

"I'll just ignore that 'cause I know you get cranky when you're worried about someone," Stiles said, taking the higher road by not bickering with her.

"Call again," Scott told Stiles as he threw one of his shirts out of his closet that he was digging through.

Stiles sighed heavily and watched as Olivia walked over to Scott's desk to search there. "It's not here," he said flatly; Scott ran from his closet to look through his blanket. "Okay, so you lost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?"

"I can't afford a new one," Scott dropped to his stomach to look under the other side of the bed that Olivia hadn't checked. "And I can't do this alone. We have to find Derek."

Scott jumped back to his feet and walked into his attached bathroom; Olivia finished searching his desk and went over to his dresser.

"Well, you're not alone. You have us," Stiles pointed out, gesturing between him and Olivia. "And didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead—ow!"

He rubbed his head where Olivia threw a stress ball at him and glared at the petite brunette.

"Don't talk like that," she scolded him with a fierce glare.

"Argent's plan was to use him to get to the alpha," Scott added, still in the bathroom. "they're not gonna kill him."

"All right, so then just let them do what they're planning, you know?" Stiles shrugged. "They use Derek to get Peter, problem solved—ow, would you stop throwing shit at me?"

Olivia, who had thrown a notebook at him this time, pursed her lips at him, still glaring.

"The problem isn't solved if Peter's going after Allison to find Derek," Scott walked out of the bathroom. "I can't protect her on my own, which means we either find Derek first, or—just help me!"

Stiles caught the foam basketball that Scott threw at him and dropped it on the floor.

"You know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting," Stiles guessed. "You remember that?" he reminded Scott. "When he was trying to kill you after you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson? Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"

"He wasn't going to kill anyone," Olivia spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat at the end of Scott's bed.

"And I'm not letting him die," Scott added, sitting in his armchair by the window.

Stiles sighed. "Could you at least think about letting him die for me?"

"Stiles!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Stiles told Olivia, shrinking under the heat of her eyes.

Scott turned toward his window, looking to his front yard to see his mom pull up.

"What?" Stiles asked him curiously.

"My mom just got home from work," Scott told him, listening to the voicemail that Melissa was recording for Peter. He sighed sadly when he heard her start to sob into her hand.

"Is she okay?" Olivia asked, giving him a concerned look. "What's she doing?"

Scott frowned, leaning his forearms on his knees. "Crying."

Stiles gave him a sad smile. "Scott, you can't protect everyone."

Scott shook his head in disagreement, remembering the speech Stiles gave him that day in detention. "I have to."

The next day, Stiles hovered near his locker in the locker room, watching as Scott and Coach had a private, yet very loud, conversation in front of his office. Scott was so upset when Coach told him he couldn't go to the winter formal that he started yelling and waving his hands around.

"What do you mean I can't go to the formal?"

Coach rolled his eyes. "McCall, you're failing my class and two others," he explained. "They told me to cut you from the team but I told them I'd sooner cut off my last remaining testicle than cut my best player."

Stiles grimaced; Coach talked about his one remaining testicle _way_ too often.

"So the compromise is that I can't go to the dance?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Yeah."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Then I quit the team."

Coach laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "No, you don't. And, if you show up to the dance and I see you there, I'm gonna drag you out by your teeth."

Stiles, having heard the whole conversation, walked up to his best friend as Coach went in his office. "So, what are you gonna do?" he asked quietly. "I can protect her, I guess. I can probably borrow a gun from my dad without him noticing."

"No."

"Yeah, you're right," Stiles agreed absentmindedly. "I probably shouldn't have a gun."

"No—I mean, yes, you shouldn't have a gun, but I meant that I have another plan," Scott said, looking over at Jackson, who was minding his own business by his locker. "Two words: Jackson and Allison."

"Well, that's actually three words. And you know he's not gonna—" Stiles said Scott as he walked away. "And you're walking away. Okay, I'm coming."

He bounded up to Scott's side and slammed Jackson's locker shut, gaining his attention.

"I need you to take Allison to formal," Scott demanded right away.

Jackson blinked at Scott like he was out of his mind. "You," he gestured to Scott and then to himself. "want me to take her to the formal."

"I don't _want_ you to," Scott corrected him. "I _need_ you to."

Jackson scoffed. "Fuck you," he looked at Stiles and added, "You know what, fuck you too. In fact, fuck each other."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Hey, you know he saved your life, right?"

"He left me for dead."

Scott looked at him, appalled by his nerve. "I got shot for you."

"Yeah?" Jackson raised an eyebrow at him. "Show me the bullet wound."

Scott pressed his lips together. "You know it healed."

"Convenient," Jackson hummed sarcastically.

"Just do it for Allison, okay?" Scott tried to convince him. "She's in serious danger. I'm talking around-the-clock danger. She needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance."

"Have her dad do it," Jackson suggested. "He's the one actually equipped to handle this."

"How am I supposed to do that and keep him from finding out about me?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Not my problem."

Jackson went to leave but Scott stopped him by slamming a hand against his locker to block the way.

"You're her friend, too," Scott reminded him; Jackson rolled his eyes. "You are. All that time that you spent with her to get to me, you can't tell me that you didn't get to know her and like her. It's Allison—it's impossible not to like her. You can't tell me that you don't care if she gets hurt."

Jackson furrowed his eyebrows. "What if _I_ get hurt?"

Scott straightened up. "Then it's worth it."

Jackson narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Not to me."

He pushed Scott out of the way and shoved Stiles into the locker to get through them.

"Well, I shouldn't say I told you so—" Stiles said as he and Scott watched Jackson walk further away. "—cause it's not strong enough. How about I'm always right and you should listen to whatever I have to say and never disagree ever for the sake of your wolflihood?"

"I'm not done," Scott declared, making his way over to Jackson once again.

Stiles sighed. "You're not done. Okay—oh, my God!" he exclaimed as Scott shoved Jackson against the locker room door, showing off his golden eyes and sharp fangs as he growled in his face. "Oh, look, he's scared."

Scott had, indeed, scared Jackson into agreeing to take Allison to the winter formal. He was a mess of nerves, sweating up a storm, as he approached Allison at her locker while Scott and Stiles watched from a few feet away.

Jackson leaned against the locker next to Allison's, giving her a fake and clearly nervous smile.

"Hey, don't worry," Stiles clapped Scott on the shoulder. "I'll still be there."

Scott shook his head, watching as Allison and Jackson walked away from her locker. "I'm still going."

"Is that such a good idea?" Stiles asked as Scott turned to face him. "Do you even have a date?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a suit?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a ticket to the formal?" Stiles questioned him. "A ride there?"

"No and no."

Stiles sighed. "So, you're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not even allowed to go to, without a date, a suit, or a way in," he listed, amused. "with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf ass."

"Yeah," Scott smiled. "You gonna help me?"

Stiles grinned. "Fuck yeah."

"Nothing's wrong," Allison insisted as she, Olivia, and Lydia stepped onto the escalator heading up to Macy's second level. "I just—I have a lot on my mind."

Olivia frowned at her, concerned. "Well, are you okay?"

Allison looked at her and Olivia thought that the taller brunette was somewhat hesitant with her. She hadn't been wildly enthusiastic when Olivia and Lydia reminded her that they were going shopping for their formal dresses after school, and from the distance Allison gave her, she assumed it was because of her.

Finally, Allison smiled. "No, I think I'm fine."

"You could smile at least," Lydia commented. "Ever hear the saying, '_Never frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile?_' Smile, Allison," she grinned. "I'm buying you a dress."

"I have to admit, as far as apologies go, that's more than I expected," Allison told her before turning to Olivia. "Now it's your turn, Liv."

Olivia gave her a confused look as the three of them stepped off the escalator. "For what?"

"I'm asking you for a favor," Allison declared. "And, since my ex-boyfriend kissed you too…"

"I didn't ask him to but I guess I can do you a favor," Olivia conceded. "What's the favor?"

"Perfect," Allison smiled. "I need you to cancel on whatever dumb, roided-up jock Lydia set you up with and go with someone else to the dance."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "And who is this person you're speaking about?"

Allison simply turned, looking in the direction of the perfume counter. Olivia followed her gaze, narrowing her eyes when she saw Stiles sniffing various perfumes. She fought back a smile when he accidently sprayed one right in his face, causing him to sneeze heavily.

"You want me to go to formal with Stiles?" Olivia asked, looking back at Allison.

Allison grinned and even Lydia looked amused. "Like Lydia said, Liv—don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile."

As she and Lydia broke into giggles, Olivia sent them a light-hearted glare before walking over to Stiles.

It wasn't that Olivia didn't want to go to formal with Stiles because as far as dates went, she knew he'd be a good one. It's just that she felt weird around Stiles sometimes; her stomach would flip and flop whenever he smiled at her and she actually enjoyed his company—which was weird for her, since she only had Scott, Jackson, and Danny as guy friends and she barely tolerated hanging out with them too much.

"So," she said as she approached Stiles, gaining his attention. "I heard we're going to the dance together."

"Um, yeah," Stiles scratched the back of his neck. "Unless you don't want to. I mean, it'd be cool and I really wanna go with you but if you don't want to go with me, that's cool, too. No pressure or anything. I—"

"Stiles!" Olivia interrupted his rambling. "It's fine. I will go to the dance with you."

"Really?" Stiles' eyes widened in happiness. "Great!"

"Yeah…"

"Yep…"

"Oh, this just turned painfully awkward," Olivia and Stiles turned to see Lydia staring at them, her arms crossed over her chest. "Stiles, right?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows at Lydia, shocked that she got his name right. She had always insisted on calling Stiles by the wrong name to assert dominance over him.

"Uh, yeah."

"You can carry the dresses we want to try on," Lydia declared, pointing at him. "Come on, we're wasting time."

Olivia and Stiles followed Lydia into the dress section; Stiles was immediately bombarded with two dresses.

"Liv, what do you think about this one?" Lydia asked, holding up a dress in a dusty-rose color.

Olivia smiled. "I like it."

Lydia placed it in Stiles' arms and continued on her way. Olivia shook her head, giving Stiles an amused look and started looking around the racks. She pulled a green dress and a purple dress before she saw a white one that caught her eye.

She got one in her size and laid it on top of the growing pile in Stiles' arms.

"So are you guys gonna try these on right now?" Stiles asked casually. "All of them? Because I don't think this is a twenty-four-hour Macy's."

Olivia laughed and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Stiles."

"All right. I'm not worrying about it. No worries here."

"You're sure you don't mind that I catch a ride with you and Stiles?" Lydia asked Olivia, zipping up the brunette's dress. "What's-his-name said he'd meet me at the school."

"It's fine, Lyds," Olivia assured her. "You're my family and my very best friend, I wouldn't want to go without you."

Lydia beamed at her and then gave her a knowing look. "And you're nervous to be alone with Stiles."

"What?" Olivia laughed. "I'm not nervous. What makes you say that?"

"You've been chewing on your cheek," Lydia pointed out, walking over to the sink in Olivia's bathroom to check her lipstick. "You do that when you want to hide emotion. I'm assuming that you're nervous."

Olivia had to admit that Lydia was right about her anxiety but it didn't have to do with Stiles. They were friends, she was comfortable with him. She was nervous about what Peter was planning to do at the dance.

She wasn't going to admit that to Lydia, though, so she lied, "Yeah, okay, you caught me."

"I knew it!" Lydia handed her some red lipstick to put on. "I always catch you staring at him."

Olivia, who had been leaning toward the mirror to put on the lip color, spluttered. "I don't stare at him."

Lydia scoffed. "Yeah, you do and if you're not staring at him, he's staring at you," she hummed thoughtfully. "Actually, he's been staring at you for a while."

Olivia shook her head in denial; she didn't stare at Stiles. Lydia only thought she did because she was just making sure that Scott was okay at school. Where Scott was, Stiles was, so…

Olivia certainly did _not_ look at Stiles too much; she only knew that the moles on his cheeks could have made out a constellation that looked like the Little Dipper and that his nose was tilted slightly up at the end. Or that his upper lip was slightly fuller than the bottom or his eyes looked like butterscotch and whiskey mixed together.

She didn't stare at Stiles.

"Whatever," she mumbled, going back to her task of applying lipstick.

Once both girls were ready, they took a cute selfie together to post to Snapchat. The picture showed off their dresses—Olivia's was white with silver gems on the shoulders and Lydia's was dusty-rose with a black sash—and their hair and make-up.

As soon as they slipped on their heels, they went downstairs where Natalie was waiting for them.

Except it wasn't just Natalie waiting for them; Stiles stood next to her, his mouth wide when he saw Olivia come downstairs.

He thought she looked like an angel and he was actually worried that he had died for a few seconds. She looked hot, sexy, pretty, and cute all at once—he was so lucky to be alive at the same time as her.

Someone out there in the universe was looking out for him because he just couldn't believe that he was going to formal with Olivia Martin.

Olivia smiled when she saw Stiles standing next to her aunt. He looked very handsome in his gray suit, black-and-white checkered shirt, and a silver striped tie. Olivia didn't want to admit it, but he was actually drool-worthy.

"You look beautiful," Stiles breathed when she stopped in front of him. "L-Like stunning."

"Thank you," Olivia flushed and reached up, straightening his tie. She vaguely heard a camera shutter but opted to ignore it. "You look great. I'm liking the pattern-on-pattern action you have going on."

"Thanks," Stiles mumbled, looking down at his tie. "My dad helped me."

Olivia laughed and Stiles beamed at her.

"Okay, pictures!" Natalie announced with a grin, breaking up their moment. "Let's get some in front of the fireplace."

Olivia, Stiles, and Lydia took many pictures at the insistence of Natalie. There were some with just Olivia and Stiles, Olivia by herself, Lydia by herself, Olivia and Lydia, Olivia, Lydia, and Natalie, and Olivia, Lydia, and Stiles. Sirius even got in a few pictures where the girls were careful that his nails didn't rip the fabric of their dresses.

Once Natalie was sure that her camera roll was full, they were allowed to leave.

"Thanks for letting Lydia come along," Olivia said as Stiles drove to school.

"Yeah, thanks," Lydia added politely, though she would have drove herself if Olivia hadn't insisted on her going with them.

"No problem," Stiles nodded. "Who's your date anyway?"

"Some senior named Charlie," Lydia shrugged.

"Jackson doesn't like him because Charlie was named swim captain instead of him," Olivia informed Stiles.

"Ah," Stiles said understandingly.

The school had stars reflected on it as they pulled into the parking lot and students in dresses and suits walked up the sidewalk to the gym entrance. Stiles parked near the front of the lot and parked, quickly turning off the Jeep.

He was out of his seat and within five seconds, opening Olivia's door for her.

"Thanks," Olivia said gratefully as she stepped out, straightening out the skirt of her dress.

Lydia climbed out behind her and sighed, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress. She looked up and smiled when she saw Jackson and Allison walking toward them.

"Jackson," she greeted her ex-boyfriend as Olivia and Allison exchanged waves and smile. "You look handsome."

"Obviously," Jackson smirked arrogantly. "It's Hugo Boss."

He walked away—Allison reluctantly following him—without giving Lydia any compliments back.

Lydia watched him go. "I don't care," she declared, turning back to Olivia and Stiles. "I don't want compliments. I will not fall prey to society's desire to turn girls into emotion, insecure neurotics who pull up their dresses at the first flattering remark."

"Well, I think you look beautiful," Charlie, the senior swim captain, spoke up, walking over to them.

Lydia rolled her eyes and started walking toward the gym. "Let's just go."

Olivia chuckled as Charlie gave Lydia a wide-eyed look and scurried after her into the school. Stiles offered her his arm and she took it, allowing him to lead her into the dance.

Twenty minutes into the dance, Lydia had abandoned Charlie and had joined Olivia and Stiles at their table. They hadn't danced yet but Olivia was fine with that—the most she danced was with Lydia in one of their bedrooms when they were stressed and they followed Grey's Anatomy's advice to dance it out.

It was often that Olivia's dance moves made Lydia collapse with laughter.

The slow song they were currently listening to ended and the live band struck up another one, this time with a faster beat. Stiles tapped his foot with the beat and looked over at Olivia who was pointing Danny and his boyfriend out to Lydia.

"Hey," Stiles nudged her to get her attention. When her cobalt-blue eyes landed on him, he summoned his courage. "Do you wanna dance?"

Olivia grimaced at the dance floor. "Pass."

"You know what? Let me try that again," Stiles stood up and faced Olivia, leaning down so their eyes were level. "Livvy, get off your cute ass and dance with me now."

Olivia gaped at him for a few seconds, a little impressed with his show of dominance, but ultimately shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm good."

Stiles sighed. "Olivia, get up. You're gonna dance with me," he demanded; Olivia pressed her lips together. "Look, I-I've had a crush on you since the second grade."

Olivia looked at him in shock; she had no idea that he was into her that way.

"You're a bitch sometimes and you can be way too blunt, but I know that you don't like to show emotion because you're afraid to be vulnerable and that's okay," he continued passionately. "because I've seen how caring you are to the people you love. I know that you're secretly a nerd who has more comic books than I've seen in one house. I know that you're one of the smartest people at our school and that one day, you're gonna go off and create the cure for cancer because you're so fucking brilliant."

Olivia flushed, her stomach doing that flippy thing it does sometimes in Stiles' presence. She couldn't believe that he knew so much about her—she guessed that there was more he knew, too, but he just didn't have the time to say it. It made her feel special and not like the girl who lost her family to a fire at the age of nine.

When it came down to it, Olivia felt guilty. She didn't know little things about Stiles, like what his favorite movie or book was, or his favorite food. She didn't know what he did in his free time—and he knew that about her.

But, she did want to know those things. She wanted to know who Stiles Stilinski was outside of spastic movements and sarcastic comments.

"There's already a cure for cancer," she mumbled finally, practically feeling Lydia's encouraging look on the back of her head.

Stiles straightened up in shock. "What?"

"I said there's already a cure for cancer," Olivia repeated herself, standing up and taking his hand. "but cancer makes a lot of money, so…"

Stiles blinked at her. "Wait, are you saying you believe—"

"I thought you wanted to dance?" Olivia asked playfully, pulling him out onto the dance floor.

Stiles laughed in celebration and raised his hand, twirling her underneath it.

"I'm a horrible dancer," she admitted loud enough so he could hear over the music.

"Me too!" Stiles exclaimed, putting his hand behind his head so he could do the sprinkler. "Just go with it. Who cares what people think?"

Olivia smiled, deciding that he was right. She held her hands out in front of her and moved them around, doing the cabbage patch. She laughed when Stiles started doing the running man, impressed that he could actually pull it off.

"I saw this on New Girl, watch," Olivia said, putting her hands up by her face and forming them into beaks. She opened and shut them slowly before moving her arms to create wings. "It's the chicken dance, but you slow it down."

Stiles laughed loudly and copied her, both of them in sync. Olivia could see people watching them out of the corner of her eye, but she found she didn't care for once. It was a party and she was here with Stiles, who was a great guy. If she wanted to do the chicken dance, she was going to do the chicken dance.

"McCALL!"

Olivia flinched as Coach shouted when he passed them, pointing at Scott from across the gym. Scott ran down the bleachers and tried to disappear in the crowd but Coach followed his every move.

"Looks like Coach found Scott," Stiles commented as they both turned to watch the spectacle.

Olivia gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"He's not supposed to be here," Stiles told her. "He's on academic probation."

Olivia hummed and watched as Scott pulled Danny out onto the dance floor. Coach stomped up to them and started yelling; the band stopped playing and everyone turned to stare.

"McCall!" Coach yelled. "You're not supposed to—what the hell are do—what the hell are you doing?"

"Yes, Coach?" Scott asked innocently, pulling Danny closer to him.

Olivia snickered, impressed with Scott's improvisation.

Coach looked around, noticing the judgmental looks everyone was giving him. "Okay," he laughed. "Hold on, you—I was just saying he's not supposed to—I mean, I wasn't saying that he shouldn't—" he rambled nervously. "You guys don't think—You don't—I was—Just dance, everybody. Dance, it's a party!"

Coach walked away, still nervously laughing, and the music started up again. Everyone started dancing to the slower song while Olivia and Stiles awkwardly stared at each other, not really knowing what to do.

Finally, Stiles decided to take a chance; he slowly wrapped his hands around Olivia's waist, waiting for her to object. When she didn't, he pulled her closer to him and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

They swayed side-to-side and moved around in a circle, much like what the other students were doing.

"See, this isn't so bad," he murmured in her ear; goosebumps erupted on the skin of her neck and shoulders.

"No," she agreed, resting her forehead against his shoulder and breathing in his delightful scent. "it's not."

They danced for another song, enjoying being close to one another, until Olivia pulled away. She had noticed that Lydia wasn't at their table anymore, and she was growing worried. She just had a bad feeling.

"Are you okay?" Stiles gave her a worried look, wondering why she pulled away.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I just—I need to find Lydia. She's not at the table and I'm worried."

"Okay, I understand," Stiles smiled. "Do you want me to come with?"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "If you don't mind?"

"Of course not."

Stiles took her hand and led her off the dance floor, weaving in and out between couples dancing. They left the gym, intending to look in the bathrooms for Lydia, when they ran into Jackson.

"Jackson, have you seen Lydia?" Olivia asked, taking in his appearance; his shirt was rumpled, his tie undone, his eyes red. "What happened to you?"

Jackson's lips wobbled and he gulped noisily.

Olivia frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I-I was out behind the school," he stammered. "and I-I w-was out—"

"What happened?" Stiles questioned him, a sinking feeling in his gut. "Jackson, what did you do?"

"I told Argent about Scott," Jackson blurted out. "I'm sorry but it's okay because he said that they wouldn't hurt him!"

"Jackson, the Argents are the ones who killed my mom!" Olivia raised her voice, unable to believe that Jackson would do something so stupid. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I-I didn't know, Liv."

"Wait," Stiles spoke up, getting her attention. "If the Argents are here…"

Olivia gasped in realization. "That means that my dad is too."

Tingling erupted in her left side and she winced at the borderline painful sensation. A brief flash of Lydia's face filled her mind and though she was confused, there was a sense of something foreboding blooming in her chest.

"Lydia!" she gasped and took off running.

Stiles started following her, wondering what the hell was going on. Why had she said Lydia's name so suddenly and take off? It didn't make any sense.

Stiles realized that they were heading to the lacrosse field before Olivia did; the stadium lights beamed on one-by-one, and they both sped up, fear making their hearts beat faster.

Olivia entered the stadium behind Stiles, who was a faster runner, and gasped when she saw Lydia in the middle of the field. A figure was walking toward her, a figure that Olivia very much recognized.

"LYDIA!" she screamed and broke into a sprint, her heels sinking into the grass. "RUN!"

Lydia turned at her cousin's voice and that allowed Peter to attack. He tackled her to the ground, piercing her right side with his claws, and then bit down on the left side of her waist. Lydia screamed loudly but by the time Olivia and Stiles dropped to the ground in front of her, she was unconscious.

"Don't kill her," Olivia begged, sobbing, as she looked at her father with hatred. "Please."

"Of course not, sweetie-pie," Peter reached out to cup her cheek, causing her to flinch and close her eyes tightly. "Just tell me how to find your cousin."

Stiles looked between Olivia and Peter. "What?"

"Tell me how to find Derek Hale," Peter repeated calmly.

"I-I don't know that," Stiles shook his head, trying to calm his quick heartbeat. "How the hell would I know that?"

"While you are clever, Stiles, you aren't the one I'm talking to," Peter drawled, looking back at his daughter. "Olivia, tell me what you know and I won't hurt sweet little Lydia. Tell me the truth or I'll rip her to pieces."

Olivia sobbed again, her chest heaving, and she opened her eyes. "I don't know for sure," she cried. "I swear, I don't know."

"TELL ME!"

Olivia flinched away. "Okay, okay," she conceded, her voice shaking. "I've been thinking about it and I think Derek took Scott's phone. He's smart—I think he knew he'd be caught."

"By the Argents?" Peter asked quietly.

"Yes."

"And?"

"I told you, I think he took Scott's phone!"

"Why?"

"They all have GPS now," Stiles spoke up, glowering at Peter. "So, if he still has it and if it's still on, you can find him."


	12. New Alpha in Town

**[1x12; Code Breaker]**

"Let's go," Peter ordered, getting to his feet. "both of you."

Olivia shook her head and kept her wet eyes on Lydia. Her cousin was still unconscious which couldn't be a good thing and her pink dress was turning dark red from the blood she was losing.

"Olivia."

"No," she snapped, glaring up at her father. "I'm not just letting you leave her here."

Peter rolled his eyes and pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket, dapping Lydia's blood off his lips. "You don't have a choice, darling," he stated flatly. "You and Stiles are coming with me."

"I don't care," Olivia protested, raising her voice. "She's bleeding out, she needs help. I'm not leaving her to die."

Peter, running out of patience, reached forward and roughly grabbed Olivia's arm, pulling her to her feet. Stiles jumped up as Olivia struggled against her father, ready to intervene.

"Call your friend," Peter said as Olivia looked at her father, afraid. "Tell Jackson where she is. That's all you get."

Peter dragged Olivia away with him as he walked off the lacrosse field, leaving Stiles to make a panicked phone call.

The atmosphere inside the Jeep as Stiles drove them to the parking structure at the mall was suffocating. No one spoke and it was quiet save from the sniffles Oliva let out here and there. Stiles kept trying to make eye contact with her through the rear-view mirror, but she kept her gaze to the window.

Olivia tried to absorb everything that happened since she and Stiles left the gym; she had tried so hard to keep Lydia out of everything supernatural but now she was bitten. She would either die or become a werewolf and Peter was to blame. Olivia's father, who she had loved so deeply, had hurt one of the people she loved most in the world.

It blew her mind to know that the man who used to read her bedtimes stories and made chocolate chip cookies with her had turned into such a monster.

"You don't have to feel bad," Peter eventually spoke up, looking between Stiles and Olivia. "If she lives, she'll become a werewolf. She'll be incredibly powerful."

"Yeah," Stiles scoffed. "and once a month, she'll go out of her fucking mind and try to tear everything apart."

"Well, actually, considering that she's a woman—twice a month," Peter shrugged.

Olivia turned from the window and narrowed her eyes at Peter. "_Shut up_."

"I can see that this is a touchy subject," Peter clicked his tongue and chuckled. "Fine. Stiles," he turned to the spastic teen. "What are your intentions with my daughter?"

Stiles, who was pulling into the parking garage, spluttered in shock. He gave Peter a wide-eyed look and didn't answer. Olivia scoffed from the backseat and leaned forward so she could look her father in the eyes.

"His intentions are for you to leave us alone," she spat.

Peter glared at her. "Watch your tone, Olivia," he said sternly before facing forward and pointing to a silver car. "Park next to that car."

Stiles pulled into the closest space, a few cars over, and shut off the Jeep. Peter was out of his seat within seconds and grabbed Olivia's arm, practically dragging her out of the vehicle.

Olivia grunted from his painful grip of her as Stiles jumped out of his seat and protested loudly. "Hey, let her go—ah!" Stiles groaned as Peter grabbed his ear with his free hand and started dragging both of them to the silver car. "Ow, ow."

Peter let them go and started digging in his pockets for a set of keys.

"Whose car is this?" Olivia asked, rubbing her arm.

"It belonged to my nurse," Peter said, finding the keys and unlocking the trunk.

"What happened to your nur—" Stiles gasped in shock when Peter opened the trunk to reveal a dead body. "Oh, my God!"

Olivia wrinkled her nose at the horrible smell coming off Jennifer's body. "You killed Jennifer?"

Peter grabbed the briefcase that was leaning against the body and slammed the trunk closed. "I got better," he shrugged. "Besides, she was a bitch."

Olivia agreed that the nurse was a bitch but that didn't mean she deserved to die. She deserved to rot in jail for helping Peter kill people, not rot in a locked trunk.

Peter set the briefcase on the trunk and pulled out a laptop.

"Good luck getting a signal down here," Olivia spoke up bitterly and Peter pulled out a personal hotspot. "Great, MiFi."

"And you're a Mac guy," Stiles observed as Peter turned the MiFi on and opened the laptop. "Does that go for all werewolves or is it just a personal preference?"

Peter gave him an annoyed look and turned the laptop toward him. "Turn it on and get connected."

Stiles grimaced and flipped the MiFi over, connecting it to the MacBook. "You know, you're really killing the whole werewolf mystique thing here," once he loaded up Google Chrome, he went to the Sprint webpage so he could locate Scott's phone. "Look, you still need Scott's username and password and, I'm sorry, but I don't know them."

"You know both of them."

"No," Stiles insisted. "I don't."

"Even if I couldn't hear your heartbeat, I would still be able to tell that you're lying," Peter said matter-of-factly.

"Dude, I swear to God—"

As soon as Stiles lost his temper, Olivia felt herself being spun around, her back pressed to her dad's chest. She could feel the sharp edges of his claws against her neck and she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing that this was all just a nightmare and that her dad wasn't threatening to kill her to get what he wanted.

"I can be very persuasive, Stiles," Peter said, his voice too casual for what he was threatening. Stiles gaped fearfully at him and froze, not wanting to do anything that could get Olivia killed. "Don't make me persuade you."

"Okay, let her go," Stiles quickly turned back to the computer. "I'll do it, just let her go."

Peter chuckled, amused by the fact that Olivia was Stiles' greatest weakness—he used to be the same. He let Olivia go and she flinched away from his blinking back tears.

She would definitely need therapy after this.

"What happens after you find Derek?" Stiles asked Peter as he clicked on the log-in button.

"Don't think, Stiles," Peter advised. "Just type."

Stiles pressed his lips together. "You're gonna kill people, aren't you?"

"Only the responsible ones."

Stiles swallowed heavily, guilty at the thought that he was actually helping Peter kill people. "Look, if I do this, you have to promise to leave Scott and Olivia out of it."

Peter sighed heavily. "Do you know why wolves hunt in packs?" he asked, turning to Stiles and Olivia. "It's because their favorite prey are too large to be brought down by one wolf alone. I need Derek and Scott—and Olivia, once she takes the bite. I need all of them."

Stiles glared at the computer. "Scott's not going to help you."

"Oh, _he_ will," Peter disagreed. "because it'll save Allison. And _you_ will because it will save Scott, your best friend whom you know so well, you even have his username and password."

Stiles pressed his lips together and sighed before typing in Scott's username.

"His username is _Allison_?" Peter asked in disbelief; Stiles nodded and typed in Scott's password. "His password is also _Allison_?"

"Still want him in your pack?" Stiles snarked, giving Peter a pointed look.

Peter rolled his eyes heavily, privately thinking that he did have a point.

Olivia watched the laptop impatiently and gasped when the GPS finally loaded, recognizing the location. She couldn't believe Derek had been right under their nose the whole time.

"Wait, what the—?" Stiles fumbled.

"That's where they're keeping him?" Olivia looked at her father. "At the house?"

"Not at it," Peter shut the laptop and put it back in the trunk. "Under it. I know exactly where that is."

The faint sound of a wolf howling echoed through the air, catching their attention. Peter's head whipped toward its direction while Olivia shivered, goosebumps rising on her arms.

"And I'm not the only one," Peter smirked; he turned to Stiles and demanded, "Give me your keys."

Stiles sighed and pulled his keys out of his pocket, handing them to the alpha. "Careful," he warned, thinking that Peter was going to use his Jeep. "she grinds in second."

Peter squeezed the keys in his fist, bending the metal easily. He handed them back to Stiles, who gaped at him.

Peter went to leave but he hesitated. "One more thing."

He reached out to grab Olivia once more, lifting her arm higher. His eyes flashed crimson-red and his fangs descended, causing Olivia to realize what was happening. She began struggling against his hold and Stiles reacted, jumping toward them. He was easily pushed down to the ground by Peter.

"No, Dad, don't!" Olivia pleaded, panicked tears falling down her cheeks. "Please don't!"

Peter wasn't persuaded by her pleads; he bit down on her forearm, his fangs digging deep into her skin. Olivia screamed from the white-hot ache that soared through her body, the worst pain she had ever felt by far.

Pulling away from his daughter, Peter threw her on the ground next to Stiles. Stiles scrambled to help her, leaning her up against the car next to them. Once she was settled, holding her heavily bleeding arm against her chest, Stiles jumped to his feet and glowered at Peter.

It felt like Olivia was underwater and it was the pain from the bite holding her down. She tilted her head against the car and closed her eyes, trying not to faint. Though their voices were warbled, she could still hear Stiles and Peter speaking.

"I'm trying to avenge my family," Peter told Stiles. "I'm not the bad guy."

Stiles scoffed angrily. "You're not the bad guy?" he raised his voice. "You turn into a giant monster with red eyes and fangs, you're killing people—you just bit your daughter!"

"The bite is a gift," Peter said firmly, casting a brief look at Olivia. He turned back to Stiles and stepped toward him. "You know, I like you, Stiles. Since you've helped me, I'm going to give you something in return…Do you want the bite?"

Stiles' eyes widened at Peter's offer. "What?"

"Do you want the bite?" Peter repeated. "If it doesn't kill you—and it could—you'll become like us," he gestured toward Olivia and Stiles' eyes shot to her.

"Like you?"

"Yes, a werewolf," Peter took another step toward him. "Would you like me to draw you a picture? That first night in the woods, I took Scott because I needed a new pack. It could have easily been you. You'd be every bit as powerful as him. No more standing by his side, watching him become stronger and quicker, more popular—watching him get the girl…" her smirked, seeing that Stiles was still staring at Olivia. "You'd be equals, maybe more."

Stiles could see the blood from Olivia's bite dripping down her arm and staining her white dress red. Her face was almost so pale that it seemed translucent and her eyes were shut, as though she was asleep. The only things that told him she was actually awake were the tremors wracking her body and the whimpers of pain escaping her lips.

"Yes or no?" Peter grabbed Stiles' arm, bringing it up to his face.

Stiles' eyes flickered back to him, hardening. Even if he did want to be stronger, to be Scott's equal, he didn't want to be a werewolf like Peter. He didn't want to turn into something he didn't recognize—he didn't want to be like a person that would use his daughter's life for his own gain.

As Peter's fangs slipped out, Stiles ripped his arm out of his grasp.

"I don't wanna be like _you_," he spat.

Peter chuckled, shaking his head. "Do you know what I heard just then?" he asked, thinking of the blip in Stiles' heartbeat. "Your heart beating slightly faster over the words '_I don't want'_. You may believe that you're telling me the truth but you are lying to yourself. Goodbye, Stiles."

As Peter got into his nurse's car and drove away, not giving Olivia a second glance, Stiles rushed over to her, kneeling down in front of her.

"Hey, Livvy," Stiles cupped her pale, wet cheek and rubbed his thumb across it. "Wake up, okay?"

"'Mm awake," Olivia slurred tiredly.

Stiles smiled sadly as she opened her eyes. "There's those blue eyes," he looked around, trying not to panic. "I need you to stay awake until we get to the hospital, okay?"

"Mmkay."

"Where's your phone?" he asked quickly, worried about how shallow her breathing was. "Do you have your phone?"

"…Jeep…"

"Okay, stay awake," Stiles breathed before rushing over to his Jeep. He opened the door and grabbed Olivia's purse, digging her phone out of it. He didn't know her passcode but he used the emergency button to call for an ambulance.

He walked back over to Olivia as he spoke to the dispatcher, explaining that there had been an animal attack and that they needed an ambulance at the mall. The dispatcher told him to stay calm while they sent an ambulance his way and stay on the phone with them until they arrived.

It took fifteen minutes for the ambulance to get there, Stiles talking on the phone the whole time to give them updates on Olivia's status and trying to keep her awake. When the paramedics finally arrived, it was all a blur.

He remembered a paramedic asking him questions and suddenly he was at the hospital.

While Olivia was rushed to the emergency room, he stayed back to give a nurse some of her details, including her driver's permit and the name of her aunt. By the time he was done, he was being questioned by a deputy.

Almost an hour had passed before he went up to the trauma floor, intending to see how Olivia was doing. He ran up the stairs, not having enough patience to wait for a slow elevator, and burst onto the floor, seeing multiple police officers mulling about.

Noah rushed up to him before he could run to Olivia's room.

"You know what," he snapped. "it's a good thing we're in a hospital because I'm gonna kill you."

Stiles clenched his jaw and looked over his dad's shoulder, spotting Olivia in one of the trauma rooms. There were two nurses there with her, including Melissa—which made Stiles feel better—a doctor in surgical scrubs, and Natalie. A bag of blood and saline hung from an IV pole next to her, but Olivia was unconscious.

"Stiles!"

"I'm sorry," he breathed, looking back at his dad. "I, uh, I lost the keys to my Jeep and Olivia—she was attacked. I was—I was with the ambulance—"

"Stiles, I don't care!" Noah raised his voice.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

Noah softened when he saw how devastated his son was. He clapped a hand on Stiles' shoulder and held it in support. "They said she lost a lot of blood," he told him. "She's getting a transfusion and they're stitching her up."

Stiles nodded, relieved that Olivia was recovering. "What about Lydia?"

"She had surgery," Noah informed him and Stiles looked into the window of Lydia's room, seeing that she had a breathing mask attached to her face. "They fixed her up but something else is going on with her."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"The doctors say it's like she's having an allergic reaction. Her body keeps going into shock," Noah recalled the doctor's report. "Did you see anything? I mean, do you have any idea who or what attacked her?"

"No, I have no idea," Stiles shook his head and told his dad the same thing he told the deputy downstairs. "but Olivia was attacked by an animal. I didn't see what kind, it was fast."

Noah nodded understandably. "What about Scott?"

"What do you mean?" Stiles gave him a confused look. "What about him?"

"Did he see anything?"

"What do you—is he not here?" If Scott wasn't here, that meant that he was one of the wolves that they heard howling earlier.

"What are you talking about?" Noah crossed his arms over his chest. "I've been calling him on his cell phone. I've gotten no response."

Stiles looked around his dad again, locking eyes with Jackson, who was waiting by Lydia's room. Jackson shook his head, silently telling Stiles that he hadn't heard from the werewolf.

He sighed, rubbing his hand over his buzzcut. "Yeah, you're not gonna get one."

Once Natalie left Olivia's room to check on Lydia, Stiles snuck in to see her. She was awake now but happened to be a little groggy and high from pain medicine they were pumping into her. He sat down in the chair next to her bed, gaining her attention.

"Stiles."

"I'm glad you're awake," Stiles smiled weakly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, a little tired and woozy but the doctor said that's from the blood loss," Olivia's voice was kind of dazed but Stiles could tell that she was trying to focus. "Listen, I need you to find Scott and Derek."

"Livvy—"

"Please, Stiles," Olivia pleaded, grabbing his hand to squeeze tightly. "I need you guys to stop my dad before he kills anyone else."

"I-I can try," Stiles nodded, though he didn't know exactly what he was supposed to do against an alpha werewolf. "I'll go see what's going on."

"Thank you, Stiles," Olivia smiled gratefully, squeezing his hand again.

Stiles smiled weakly and squeezed back before releasing her hand. He left Olivia's room in search of his dad, hoping that he'd be given some information. He knew that Derek was being kept at the Hale house but he didn't know much more than that.

"Dad!" he called, spotting his dad down the hall; he ran toward him. "Dad, can I—"

"Stiles, just go wait with your friends, all right?" Noah ordered, patting his arm and turning to walk away.

"Dad tell me what's going on," Stiles demanded, catching up to him. "Look, you know it has something to do with Derek."

"What?" Noah gave him a strange look and stopped in his tracks. "I thought you two said you barely knew him."

"All right, we might know him a little better than that," Stiles admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "I mean, he's Olivia's cousin."

Noah looked at him in disbelief and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him along the hallway away from the other police officers. "You do realize that I'm elected to this job, right?"

"And if I help you figure this out, you'll be re-elected," Stiles snarked. "Am I right? Dad, come on."

Noah let go of Stiles and stopped walking, sighing heavily. "You know what, Lydia Martin has got nothing to do with a six-year-old arson case."

Stiles froze; the last he heard from his dad, the case was still unsolved. He knew from getting his dad drunk that all the victims were connected by the Hale house fire, but he hadn't known there was anything else they found out.

"When did you decide it was definitely arson?" he asked.

"When we got a key witness," before Stiles could ask, Noah shook a finger at him. "And, no, I'm not telling you who it is…but yeah, we know it's arson. And it was probably organized by a young woman."

_Didn't Olivia say that Kate Argent was the one who killed her family?_ Stiles thought to himself.

"What young woman?"

Noah scoffed. "If I knew that, she'd be in jail."

"Was she young then or is she young now?" Stiles asked; he had to make sure that Kate was actually the one who organized the fire.

"She's probably in her late twenties," Noah's phone rang and he looked at the caller ID. "Oh, I gotta grab this call."

"You don't know her name?" Stiles grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away.

"No, I don't—what is this, twenty questions?" Noah pulled away from Stiles' grip. "All we know is that she had a very distinctive—what do you call it—a pendant."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "What the hell's a pendant?"

"Stiles, do you go to school?" Noah snapped. "A pendant! It's a necklace. Now, can I answer the phone."

That was all the confirmation Stiles needed; if Derek was right about Laura Hale searching for a necklace that looked exactly like the one Allison wore—Allison, who got her necklace from Kate—then it all fell into place. Peter, who had killed everyone involved with the fire that killed his family and left him comatose for six years, was going after Kate. He was going to kill her—and Olivia wanted Stiles to stop him.

He gained more respect for Olivia than he already had; he wouldn't be able to say he'd stop someone from killing a person who had hypothetically killed his family. He would have wanted revenge just like Peter.

Stiles waved Noah off and went back to Olivia's room. Natalie was still with Lydia but Jackson was sitting at her bedside, both of them speaking quietly. They looked up at him when he entered.

"I'm heading out," he told Olivia, giving her a pointed look.

Olivia nodded, pursing her lips into a small frown. "Be careful, Stiles."

Stiles nodded, his heart skipping, and left the room. He was halfway down the hall when Jackson caught up with him.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To find Scott," Stiles snapped, having no patience to deal with the selfish jackass.

"You don't have a car," Jackson pointed out unhelpfully.

"I'm aware of that, thank you."

"Here, I'll drive," Jackson grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him to a stop. "Come on."

Stiles ripped his arm out of his hand and glowered at him. "Look, just because you feel guilty all of a sudden doesn't make it okay, all right?" he spat. "Half of this is still your fault."

Jackson clenched his jaw but didn't deny Stiles' claims. "Look, I have a car," he stated. "You don't. Do you want my help or not?"

Stiles pursed his lips and conceded, "All right, did you bring the Porsche?"

Jackson nodded and pulled out his keys. "Yeah."

"Good," Stiles grabbed the keys from him. "I'll drive."

They weren't able to take another step to leave the hospital as they came face-to-face with Mr. Argent and two other guys, all dressed in black. Stiles and Jackson stepped away from him, staring with wide eyes.

Mr. Argent smiled pleasantly. "Boys," he greeted politely. "I was wondering if you can tell me where Scott McCall is."

"Scott McCall," Stiles hummed nervously. "Um, I haven't seen him since the dance. Jackson, you?"

Jackson gulped loudly when Stiles looked at him for support. "Uh…" he drawled blankly. "I—"

Stiles rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh, for the love of God."

The two men behind Mr. Argent lunged forward, each of them grabbing Stiles and Jackson. They shoved them down the hall, despite their protests, and pushed them into an empty room.

Mr. Argent locked the doors behind them. "Let's try this again," he said sternly. "Where is Scott McCall?"

Stiles, who been thrown into a gurney next to Jackson, stood up straight and glared at the hunter defiantly. "You can fuck off," he cursed loudly. "because I'm not telling you a thing—"

Mr. Argent grabbed the front of Stiles' shirt and pulled him across the room, slamming his back into a cabinet.

"Le me ask you a question, Stiles," Mr. Argent's voice was angry and harsh as he looked into Stiles' equally furious eyes. "Have you ever seen a rabid dog?"

"No, but I could put it on my to-do list if you just let me go," Stiles glanced down at Argent's hands, still gripping the collar of his shirt.

"Well, I have," Mr. Argent said firmly. "And the only thing I've ever been able to compare it to is seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon. Do you wanna know what happened?"

"Not really," Stiles quipped lowly. "No offense to your story-telling skills."

"He tried to kill me and I was forced to put a bullet in his head," Mr. Argent emphasized his statement by poking Stiles in the forehead, forcefully pushing his head back against the cabinet. "The whole while that he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way back toward me, still trying to kill me like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine that?"

"No, and it sounds like you need to be a little more select—"

Mr. Argent cut him off by slamming his hand into the cabinet right next to his head. "Did Scott try to kill you on the full moon?" he shouted. "Did you have to lock him up?"

"Yeah, I did. I had to handcuff him to a radiator," Stiles seethed, glowering at the hunter. His voice shook with rage and his jaw clenched tightly. "Why? Would you prefer I locked him in the basement and burned the whole house down around him?"

Mr. Argent reared back like he had been slapped and held up his index finger. "I hate to dispel a popular rumor, Stiles, but we never did that."

"Oh, right," Stiles scoffed. "Olivia said you guys had a code. I guess no one ever breaks it."

Mr. Argent exchanged glances with the two other hunters. "Never."

"What if someone does?"

"Someone like who?" Mr. Argent looked back to Stiles.

Stiles scowled. "Your sister."

Mr. Argent clenched his jaw and abruptly let go of Stiles. He backed away from him and crossed his arms over his chest. "Where are they?" when Stiles didn't answer, Mr. Argent sighed heavily. "I'm not going to hurt Scott if he's innocent. Where. Are. They?"

"The Hale house."

Mr. Argent nodded and nodded at his men; they unlocked the door and left the room.

It was silent for a whole minute while Stiles tried to calm his anger.

And then Jackson spoke, "What now?"

"Now we're gonna learn how to make self-igniting Molotov cocktails."

Stiles sped down the mile-long driveway that led to the Hale house, the Porsche bouncing from the bumps and potholes in the dirt path. Jackson sat in the passenger seat, a scowl on his face, and two freshly made Molotov cocktails in his lap. Stiles pressed on the gas pedal, speeding up.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jackson objected as they flew over a small hill. "This isn't exactly an all-terrain vehicle!"

"Yeah, did you pay for it?" Stiles snarked.

"No."

"Then shut up," he snapped and sped up once more.

They pulled up to the old Hale house within minutes; the alpha—in all his red-eyed, ugly glory—was standing in front of the house, snarling at Scott, who laid a few feet in front of him. Stiles slammed on the breaks and grabbed one of the Molotov cocktails, honking the horn to get the alpha's attention.

He ran out of the Porsche and whipped the Molotov cocktail at the alpha. Unfortunately, the alpha simply caught it and roared in Stiles' direction.

"Fuck," Stiles cursed, flinching back.

Scott looked around quickly, spotting Allison's crossbow. "Allison!" he called for her, grabbing the bow and tossing it to her.

Allison caught the bow and aimed it at the alpha, letting an arrow soar into the cocktail. The beaker broke and exploded, engulfing the alpha's arm in flames. Jackson took the opportunity to throw the other Molotov cocktail; it hit the alpha and caught the rest of his body on fire.

The alpha roared loudly and stumbled around, his gaze landing on Allison. Before he could take a step toward her, Scott shouted and sprang up, jumping into the air. He kicked the alpha away from Allison, where he landed on the ground, changing back into Peter.

Stiles sighed in relief, glad that it was finally over.

While Allison and Scott made up, kissing and exchanging their love, Derek slowly walked out of the house. Stiles watched curiously as he made his way to Peter, glaring down at him.

Scott saw Derek ready to kill Peter and jumped to his feet, running over to him.

"Wait!" he called, catching the older werewolf's attention as he kneeled next to his uncle's burnt body. "You said the cure comes from the one who bit you. Derek, if you do this, I'm dead."

Derek pressed his lips together and it wasn't hard for Stiles to guess that he had lied to Scott about the cure. Derek just wanted Scott's help to take down Peter.

"Her father, her family," Scott continued begging. "what am I supposed to do?"

"You've…already…decided…" Peter breathed painfully. His eyes glowed red as he snarled, "I can smell it on you!"

Derek raised his hand, his claws growing from his nail beds, and Scott lunged, "Wait, no, don't!"

Derek thrust his arm forward, slashing his claws along Peter's neck. Peter made a gurgling sound as he choked on his blood and took his last breath. Derek stood up and turned toward Scott, his eyes glowing the red of an alpha.

"I'm the alpha now," he declared.

Olivia stared at Derek, studying him to see if there was anything else that was different about him. She knew his eyes had changed from their usual icy-blue to the alpha-red but there had to be something else that had changed, too.

Derek stared back at her, resting his arms on the side of her hospital bed. She could see the curious look in his eyes, along with shame, but she didn't fault him for killing Peter. The man she knew as her father died long ago when Kate planned that fire. The alpha hadn't been her dad that she loved. She lost him a long time ago.

Olivia was just glad that it was all over. Kate was dead—curtesy of Peter—and Peter had been stopped. Derek was now an alpha and he could start building his own pack, which now included her.

"Well?" she broke the silence.

Derek glanced out of the window in her room, glad that he was officially cleared of all the murders he was accused of, and then looked back at her.

"Her bite wasn't healed," Derek told Olivia, looking back at her.

"Not at all?"

"Not at all," Derek confirmed.

"But Aunt Natalie said she'd be fine," Olivia was confused—you either turned or died. "Do you think she's rejecting it?"

Derek frowned, remembering his first love. "I don't know," he said quietly. "But she's not a werewolf, which means—"

"She's something else."

Derek nodded. "What about you?" he asked. "How's your bite?"

Olivia grimaced and held up her injured arm, the gauze wrapped around it stained slightly from excess blood. "See for yourself."

Derek reached forward and carefully unwrapped the bandage. He removed the bloody gauze and sucked in a deep breath at the sight of her wound. It was stitched up but completely fresh—no healing had been done.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "It's not healed."

"Yeah, I could tell by how much it hurts," Olivia grumbled, frowning at her wound which was bound to scar. "So, I'm not a werewolf, either…how am I supposed to know what I am?"

Derek squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."


	13. Gotta Find Lydia

**[2x01; Omega]**

Olivia leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, hoping that her uncle would just stop talking. Thomas had a special habit of annoying almost everyone he talked to, whether it was because he wouldn't shut up or he was being an asshole. At this moment, he wouldn't stop blabbering about his new girlfriend and her chihuahua named Biscuit.

If Thomas was getting on her nerves, she was absolutely sure that Lydia was about to painfully jump out of her hospital bed and cut off her dad's tongue.

Olivia opened her eyes and looked at Lydia, exchanging an annoyed look with her. Lydia pursed her lips and buried the side of her head into the flat and uncomfortable pillow that the hospital provided, trying to ignore her dad's rambling.

"Oh, and you wouldn't believe what Biscuit looks like in a sweater," Thomas chuckled fondly; Olivia rolled her eyes so hard they actually hurt.

Lydia, having been in pain all day since the nurses were weaning her off Morphine, seemed to have enough of Thomas' mindless chatter for the moment. She grunted as she tried to sit up and Olivia rushed toward her, mindful of her own wound, and helped her off the bed.

"I'm taking a shower," Lydia grumbled, scowling.

Lydia had been grumping all weekend and Olivia didn't blame her one bit; her own injury was not as serious as Lydia's and she was feeling a little irritated, too. Lydia had not only been attacked—by her cousin's father, who Lydia could have sworn was in the long-term care unit at the hospital—but she missed the rest of the formal, her dress was ruined, and to top it all off, she had to have surgery.

"Oh," Thomas hesitated in surprise. "Do you want help getting in?"

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe if I was four," she said bitterly. "and still taking bubble baths."

"Right," Thomas said uncomfortably. "I'll just wait outside then…where it's slightly less sarcastic."

Olivia rolled her eyes again as Thomas left the room and grabbed the bag that Natalie had packed for Lydia. "I'll set out your clothes for you," she told Lydia as she slowly walked over to the attached bathroom. "Do you want a sweater?"

"Uh, yeah," Lydia said absentmindedly, shuffling into the bathroom. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Once Lydia had shut the door and Olivia heard the shower start, she pulled out some yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a sweater out of the duffle bag. She left the clothes in a neat pile on the chair next to the bathroom door and then left the room, seeking out anything that could soothe the hungry twisting in her stomach.

She ran into her uncle and Scott's mom, Melissa, who had been her nurse while she was still a patient. They looked over at her as she shut the door and walked over to them.

"Lydia's in the shower," she informed Melissa, knowing that she would probably need that information.

A low moan caught her attention; Olivia's eyes followed the noise and was met with Stiles. She wasn't surprised to see him—he'd been at the hospital as long as she had been—but she didn't quite understand how he could be sleeping in his current position.

Stiles was laying on the arms of the chairs in the waiting room, a get-well balloon tied around his wrist, with no support for his back or head. He kept puckering his lips, now and then blowing kisses into the air above him. He moaned again and Olivia felt her face heat up.

Well, it didn't take a genius to figure out what he was dreaming about.

Thomas looked at him in disgust. "He's been here all day."

Stiles kissed the air again.

Melissa shook her head. "He's been here all weekend."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to hide the smile that was threatening to appear. She hadn't forgotten what happened at formal—Stiles confessing his feelings and making her dance with him—and she didn't know exactly how she felt about Stiles but she knew she cared for him.

Whether it was just friendly feelings or romantic feelings, she didn't know yet.

As a custodian bent down next to Stiles to collect the full bag from the trash can, he kissed the air and mumbled, "You're dirty."

Olivia giggled under her breath when the custodian gave him a nasty look. She left Thomas and Melissa, ignoring her uncle's judgmental look, and made her way to him. She poked his shoulder, watching in amusement as his face scrunched up in irritation.

"Mmm."

"Stiles," Olivia whispered, poking him again.

Stiles smiled dreamily, still asleep. "Livvy."

Olivia pressed her hand on Stiles' cheek and pushed his head to the side; Stiles flailed, his eyes popping open, and Olivia stepped back just in time as he flopped onto the floor.

Within five seconds, Stiles was back on his feet and looking at her with wide eyes.

"You okay there?" Olivia asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yep," Stiles nodded jerkily. "all good here."

"Oh, okay," Olivia smirked at him. "I was just hoping you weren't embarrassed for having a sex dream in the middle of a hospital waiting room."

Stiles' cheeks flushed and he winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I wasn't having a sex dream," he stammered. "I was dreaming about waterslides…Yeah, I was at a water park."

Olivia nodded understandingly. "Right," she said mockingly. "that must had been a dirty waterslide."

The left corner of Stiles' mouth quirked and he blinked rapidly. "Um, yeah. Yeah, it was."

Olivia hummed and walked away from him, heading through the waiting room to find the vending machine that Natalie had told her about that morning. She had hardly eaten anything and a Mounds bar sounded good right about now.

"Where are you going?"

Olivia didn't need to turn around to know that Stiles was following her; he caught up to her easily and was now walking by her side.

"I'm trying to find the vending machine," she told him, peeking into a hallway just off the waiting room. She spotted the vending machine halfway down the hall and started toward it; Stiles followed her dutifully.

"Oh, sounds good," Stiles grinned. "I'm kinda hungry. What are you getting?"

They came to a stop in front of the vending machine; Olivia searched for her favorite candy bar but was disappointed to find that they didn't offer Mounds. "I was going to get a Mounds but they don't have them."

"It's because Mounds are disgusting," Stiles stated, scrunching up his nose as he looked at her.

She gave him an indignant look. "Mounds are great, thank you. You're probably just too immature to eat them."

"How can I be too immature to eat a candy bar?"

"Because I said so," Olivia huffed and pulled out a dollar bill from her pants pocket, inserting it into the machine.

"Oh, that makes so much sense," Stiles muttered sarcastically, watching as Olivia selected a Milky Way.

Olivia smirked as the chocolate bar dropped from its prong; she ducked and grabbed it from the bottom of the machine. "I know it does," she quickly unwrapped her candy and took a bite. "What are you getting?"

Stiles yawned and put some coins into the machine, pressing the 'I' button for a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. "The superior candy choice, of course."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Of course."

The prong holding the Reese's turned and promptly stopped, the candy still in its grasp. Stiles frowned and pressed the 'I' button repeatedly; the candy didn't budge.

"Damn it," he sighed heavily. "Seriously? Come on…"

"Tough break," Olivia offered insincerely, earning herself a glare.

Stiles banged on the glass, trying to force gravity to do its thing and make the Reese's drop by itself. Growing irritated, he grabbed the top corners of the machine and started rocking it.

The Reese's still didn't move.

"Maybe we should get a—"

"Nope," Stiles cut Olivia off. "I've got a way of dealing with these things."

To prove his point, he pressed his front against the glass and wrapped his arms around the machine as far as they would go. He abruptly tried to tilt it over, grunting with effort, but the machine was too heavy.

"Just—gah!" he gasped and pulled away. "That's not gonna work."

"No shit."

"Please keep all sarcastic comments to yourself," Stiles snarked at Olivia.

_Hypocrite_, Olivia thought.

Stiles exhaled sharply and stepped toward the machine again, reaching for the top. He grunted as he started rocking the machine and Olivia could practically see the disaster before it even happened.

As the machine started tilting dangerously toward Stiles, Olivia grabbed the back of his jacket and forcefully pulled away. Stiles shrieked quietly as the machine fell onto the floor with a loud bang, glass skidding across the floor.

A weird feeling pulled Olivia out of her shock; a tingling sensation broke out across her whole body like goosebumps and she felt some kind of emotion brewing in her chest. She dropped her candy bar and turned around, a whisper quietly coming from her lips as she started walking back to the waiting room without a thought.

"Lydia."

Stiles looked at Olivia curiously, wondering what was going on with her. She looked dazed as she turned away from the broken vending machine, whispering her cousin's name for no reason—and she dropped a perfectly good candy bar.

And then, someone started screaming.

Olivia broke out of her trance, recognizing the scream immediately. She called her cousin's name much louder than before and started running to Lydia's room, Thomas, Melissa, and Stiles on her heels.

Olivia ran into the hospital room and went straight to the bathroom, slipping on the wet floor. Stiles grabbed her arms, keeping her from falling, as they looked around the empty bathroom.

Lydia was no where to be found.

"Where is she?" Olivia breathed as Melissa turned off the shower.

Her eyes caught sight of the window and walked over to it; it was open, letting the freezing air into the room, and she could hear faint screaming that she just knew was Lydia.

As Melissa and Thomas caught on to what happened with Lydia, Stiles stared at Olivia.

_What on Earth just happened?_

"Naked?" Sheriff Stilinski asked Melissa and Thomas as they walked through the hospital half an hour later. "As in nude?"

"I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing," Melissa commented. "but yes, as far as we know, she left here clothing-optional."

They came to a stop, Sheriff Stilinski facing Melissa and Thomas head-on. "All right, you checked the whole hospital, right?"

Melissa nodded. "Every last corner."

"Nothing suspicious?"

"Nothing," Melissa confirmed. "She just took off."

Sheriff Stilinski turned to the deputy that had walked up to him. "All right, let's get an APB out on a sixteen-year-old redhead," he ordered before turning to Thomas. "Any other descriptors?"

Olivia—who had anxiously followed the sheriff, Melissa, and Thomas with Stiles by her side—stepped forward. "Lydia's five-three, she has fair skin and green eyes, and she actually prefers strawberry-blonde but it's a little darker than that."

Stiles nodded in support and pointed at Olivia. "What she said."

The three adults looked at them in shock.

"Is that right?" Sheriff Stilinski asked, looking between his son and Olivia.

Olivia nodded. "Yes."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded and grabbed Stiles by the back of the neck, pulling him away from Melissa, Thomas, and Olivia. Olivia couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it seemed like Stiles' dad was getting after him. Stiles eventually nodded and Sheriff Stilinski pushed him toward the elevator.

When his dad wasn't looking, Olivia saw Stiles turn around and gesture toward Lydia's room; she nodded back at him and turned away from her uncle, making her way back to Lydia's hospital room.

Stiles was there already, sneaking toward the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Olivia whispered to him, close behind.

"I called Scott," Stiles said quietly, picking up Lydia's discarded hospital gown. "He's on his way. He's gonna use her scent," he put the gown into his jacket and zipped it up. "to find her."

Olivia sighed, relieved that they weren't just going to wait around. "Good idea," she complimented him. "I'll text Derek to tell him to look, too."

Stiles nodded and they left Lydia's room, heading straight toward the elevator to avoid any suspicions. Once they exited the hospital, they went straight to Stiles' Jeep where Scott was already waiting in the passenger seat.

As soon as Olivia was settled into the backseat, Stiles handed Scott Lydia's gown.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asked them, looking back at Olivia.

Olivia nodded and exhaled shakily. She was trying not to totally break down over the fact that her cousin, one of the people she loved most, was probably running around town, freezing to death. She tried to console herself; if anyone was going to go missing with no clothes on in freezing temperatures and survive, it was Lydia.

Her cousin was as stubborn as a mule.

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her," Scott assured her, seeing how worried she was. "Not again."

Olivia gave him a small, thankful smile while Stiles started the car.

"All right," he said as the engine turned over. "just shove the thing in your face and let's find her."

The headlights popped on, illuminating Allison and surprising the three of them. Allison rolled her eyes at Stiles' loud cursing and rushed over to Scott's window.

"What are you doing here?" Scott asked her. "Someone's gonna see us."

When Stiles had visited Olivia after Peter was killed and everything was over, he filled her in on some of the things she missed. It turned out that Kate had told Allison about werewolves—that was why Allison was hesitant around Olivia at their shopping trip—and that she found out about Scott at the formal. Kate manipulated her into thinking that all werewolves were murderous monsters and recruited Allison into catching Scott and Derek.

After Peter killed Kate and Derek killed Peter, Allison and Scott made up and started their relationship again. Until Allison's dad found them making out and threatened to kill Scott if they saw each other again. Allison and Scott faked their break-up but continued to see each other in secret.

Yeah, Olivia missed that much in one weekend.

"I don't care," Allison declared. "Lydia's one of my best friends and we need to find her before they do."

"I can find her before the cops can," Scott assured her.

"How about before my father does?"

Olivia leaned forward so that Allison could see her. "He knows?"

"Yeah," Allison nodded worriedly. "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

Scott looked toward Olivia and Stiles. "Search party."

Olivia frowned when Allison corrected him, "It's more like a hunting party."

Scott immediately opened his door. "Get in."

Stiles pulled out of the parking lot as soon as Allison was seated in the back next to Olivia. The girls smiled slightly at each other, both hesitant with how to act around each other. They weren't mad but Peter had killed Kate and Kate had killed Olivia's mom.

Allison acted first; she grabbed Olivia's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Olivia squeezed her back, hoping that Allison didn't hold her father's actions against her.

"All right," Stiles said as he turned onto the road in the direction that Scott had found Lydia's scent. "but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?"

"I don't know," Allison stated, frustration heavy in her voice. "They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is, '_We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here.'_"

Olivia grimaced; if other Argent hunters were coming to Beacon Hills, it didn't mean anything good. Scott and Derek were in danger and now, if she was turning, so was Lydia.

"What others?" Stiles looked in the rearview mirror, exchanging a worried look with Olivia.

"I don't know," Allison repeated. "they won't tell me that either."

"Okay," Stiles said, annoyed. "your family's got some serious communication issues to work on. Scott," he called to his best friend, who was hanging out of the window like a dog. "are we going the right way?"

"Go to the Hale house," Olivia spoke up.

"What, why?" Stiles and Allison looked at her, confused. There was a dazed look in her eyes and Stiles thought that it kind of looked like earlier, when she dropped her candy bar.

Olivia frowned. "I don't know."

"She's right," Scott slipped back into his seat and pointed to a road up ahead. "Take a right here."

Stiles did as Scott said and sure enough—like Olivia said—Lydia's scent led to the Hale house. Stiles parked and they all got out to walk up to the house, which looked very creepy at night.

Olivia gulped as she looked at the house she used to call home. She had lost both of her parents here and she hated coming back.

"Are you sure she came here?" Stiles asked, a few feet away from her, looking back at Scott. "You're absolutely sure?"

He wasn't asking Olivia but she knew that Lydia had been here. She didn't know how, but something inside of her knew that it was true.

"Yeah," Scott answered. "this is where her scent leads."

"All right," Stiles sighed. "Olivia, has Lydia ever been here?"

Olivia shook her head and turned away from the house. "No," she told him. "We never came here after…"

Stiles nodded, knowing what she was going to say.

"Maybe she came here on instinct," Allison suggested as Stiles walked closer to the house and Olivia made her way over to her side. "like she was looking for Derek."

Olivia pursed her lips thoughtfully while Scott raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"You mean she was looking for an alpha?" he asked.

"Wolves need a pack, right?"

"Most of the time," Olivia nodded.

"But not all of them," Scott said pointedly.

Olivia subtly rolled her eyes and turned away. She knew that Scott was mad at Derek and that was fine, but it was better if he would join his pack. There was strength in numbers and with more Argents coming to town, the more protection they had, the better.

"But would she have been drawn to an alpha?" Allison prodded. "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "we're stronger in packs."

"Like strength in numbers."

"Yes," Olivia turned back around, schooling her expression. "but werewolves are also physically stronger and faster with a pack."

Allison raised her eyebrows. "Is that the same for an alpha?"

Olivia nodded. "Derek will be stronger too."

She missed the look that Allison and Scott exchanged when she turned around when Stiles' called their names. He was crouched next to a tree, his hands caressing what looked to be a wire strung on the ground.

"Hey, look at this!" Stiles exclaimed as Olivia and Allison walked over to him to get a good look. "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

Just as Olivia was about to advise Stiles to let go of the tripwire, he pulled it firmly. There was a whoosh behind them and Olivia and Allison turned to see that Scott had been swept off of his feet and was hanging in the air by a strong rope.

Stiles was oblivious to Scott's dilemma, still studying the tripwire.

"Stiles…"

"Yeah, buddy?" Stiles asked, finally turning around. "Oh…"

"Next time you see a tripwire," Scott held out his hands, the blood rushing to his head. "don't trip it."

Olivia and Allison snickered while Stiles nodded. "Yeah, noted."

The three of them stepped forward to held Scott out of the trap when he held his hands up to stop them.

"Wait, wait, wait," he whispered hurriedly. "someone's coming. Hide!"

Olivia, Stiles, and Allison scrambled, assuming that it was probably Mr. Argent and his hunting buddies. Olivia and Stiles hurried to a nearby tree that was large enough to hide them while Allison ducked down behind a large stump.

Mr. Argent and two other guys walked up to Scott, all of them dressed in black. Olivia and Stiles could make out Mr. Argent and Scott's voices but not enough to hear what they were saying.

Olivia assumed that Mr. Argent was probably threatening Scott, though.

After Mr. Argent made some gestures around Scott's waist, the hunters fell back and left. Olivia, Stiles, and Allison made their way back over to Scott once they were sure they weren't coming back.

"Are you okay?" Allison asked her boyfriend worriedly.

"It was just another life-threatening conversation with your dad," Scott quipped good-naturedly.

Allison frowned and looked over at the tree that Scott's trap was connected to. "Olivia, help me with this."

Olivia agreed and they went over to the tree, ready to undo the rope. Suddenly the rope went slack and when they turned to see what had happened, Scott was on his feet, his claws detracting.

"Thanks," he grinned. "but I think I got it."

Olivia scoffed in agreement while Allison and Stiles chuckled.

Scott gestured toward the dilapidated house. "Coming?"

"What do you know about Isaac Lahey?"

Olivia looked away from her mirror, where she was poking an earring through her lobe, to Derek, who was sitting on her bed. He had shown up before school to tell her that he tracked Lydia's scent to the cemetery but when he got there, she wasn't.

"Isaac Lahey?" Olivia quirked an eyebrow and fastened the earring, recalling what she knew about the tall curly-haired blonde. "He's quiet, mostly. Seems shy…why?"

Derek shrugged. "I ran into him at the cemetery."

"Yeah, I think his dad owns it or something," Olivia shrugged on a leather jacket to match her red skater skirt and striped t-shirt and picked up a tube of lipstick to complete her look.

"I'm thinking about giving him the bite."

Olivia froze in place and set down her lipstick before turning to face her cousin. She knew that Derek was looking to start his own pack, but she didn't think it was going to be so soon—or one of her classmates.

"Really?" she asked. "Why him?"

"He had a black eye," Derek told her. "said his dad did it. Apparently his dad's aggressive."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, shocked. She felt bad for Isaac—her dad only pushed her around for a couple of minutes and she felt like she was messed up from it. She couldn't imagine having to live full-time with someone who was supposed to love you unconditionally and, instead, beat you up.

"Shouldn't we be contacting the authorities instead of turning him into a werewolf?"

"Isaac said he didn't want that," Derek said. "He said he'd think about it. I'm telling you because you're part of my pack and I wanted you to know."

"I'm part of your pack?" Olivia asked him with a small smile. She had thought she might be, but that was before they found out that her bite wasn't healing like a werewolf. If she wasn't a werewolf, how could she be a part of his pack?

"You're a Hale," Derek said firmly, standing up to walk over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "It doesn't matter if you're not a werewolf, Ollie. You're my pack."

Olivia grinned, knowing that was the closest she'd ever get to Derek saying I-love-you, and wrapped her free arm around his waist, giving him a quick hug. Derek grunted and patted her back before pulling away.

"This is exciting," Olivia said happily before frowning. She felt like she didn't have a right to be happy while Lydia was still missing. It felt weird.

Speaking of weird…

"I forgot to tell you," she started, biting the inside of her cheek. "Something weird happened last night."

"What?"

"Last night, before Lydia left the hospital, I had this weird feeling," Olivia told him, trying to remember all that happened. It was like a foggy dream to her. "Like I knew something was going to happen to her."

Derek frowned. "A weird feeling?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "there was tingling sensation in my body and I felt like I wanted to scream or something."

"Has this happened before?"

Olivia cocked her head, trying to remember if something like this had happened to her. She remembered the times that Derek was injured—when he was shot or when he was captured by Kate—and it felt kind of like what happened with Lydia.

She told Derek about it and he narrowed his eyes, as if thinking. There was a minute of silence before he finally spoke up.

"I'll look into it," he told her reassuringly. "Don't worry about it for now, but tell me if it happens again."

Olivia nodded. "I will."

"Good. Come on, I'll drive you to school."

"Yes, alpha, sir!" Olivia saluted him mockingly.

"Shut up."

Scott groaned in disgust as Stiles told him about what his dad had discovered earlier that morning. Noah had gone out at five in the morning to search for Lydia with the cadaver dogs and they found her scent by the cemetery. Apparently there also happened to be a grave robbery, where the liver was stolen out of a recently-buried woman.

"She ate the liver?"

"No, I didn't say she ate it," Stiles corrected him, rolling his eyes. "I just said it was missing. And you know what, even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."

Scott wrinkled his nose, glad that he didn't eat someone's liver. "I never ate anyone's liver."

"Yeah, right," Stiles scoffed. "'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control," he paused thoughtfully, coming to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk leading up to the school. "Actually, wait, hold on. You're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like what was going through your mind when you were turning, you know?" Stiles explained. "What were you drawn to?"

"Allison," Scott admitted, clutching the straps of his backpack.

Stiles sighed in frustration. "Okay, nothing else? Seriously?"

Scott shrugged. "Nothing else mattered," he stated seriously. "but, no, that's good, right? Because the night that Lydia was bit, she was with you and Olivia."

"No," Stiles shook his head. "She was looking for Jackson."

"Let's go!" Coach shouted to the locker room full of lacrosse players. "I have an announcement. Gather around, quicker!" the boys huddled up in the middle of the locker room, looking at Coach expectantly. "Danny, put a shirt on. You too, Stilinski!"

Stiles rolled his eyes and pulled on a gray t-shirt with his practice jersey on top of it. He and Scott hovered toward the back of the group as they listened to Coach.

"Listen up," Coach said seriously. "Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, roaming around totally naked."

One of the boys catcalled while some of them chuckled.

"Now, it's supposed to get below forty degrees tonight," Coach continued. "I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and I was running around naked, I lost a testicle to exposure."

Stiles grimaced—wasn't it just last week that Coach was talking about his missing testicle?

"Now, I don't want the same thing to happen to some innocent girl," Coach held up a sign-up sheet and taped it on the wall outside his office. "So, police are organizing search parties for tonight. Sign up, find the missing girl, you get an automatic 'A' in my classes."

As the team cheered and went to sign-up to look for Lydia, Scott and Stiles pulled Jackson to the side so they could talk to him. Scott quickly explained the situation to him and both of them were surprised when Jackson just shrugged.

"If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?" he asked crossly.

"Because we have a pretty good idea that she might be…" Scott hesitated. "you know, turning."

Jackson gave him a confused look. "Turning?"

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "_turning_."

"…Into?"

"A unicorn," Stiles spat, already fed up with the pretentious blonde. "What do you think, dumbass?"

Jackson glared at him. "Well, I think if Lydia's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help."

It was Scott's turn to look confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, God, you've got it all backwards, McCall," Jackson scoffed. "When I was with Lydia, you should have seen the scratch marks she left on me. What do you think she's gonna do with a real set of claws?"

Stiles grimaced as Jackson pushed past them, both disgusted at the little factoid about Lydia that he didn't want to know, and the fact that Jackson was probably right. Lydia was a bitch. She had her moments, Stiles knew, and she was usually a sweetheart to Olivia but he had never really seen her be kind to someone she wasn't best friends with.

Olivia nodded at whatever Stiles was saying, acting like she was listening to him. She caught a few things—something about a liver that concerned her—but her mind was on Jackson for the moment. She tried to make it so she wasn't obvious with her staring, but the fact that Jackson's blue eyes were darting her way once in a while, made her think that she wasn't.

She just couldn't believe that Jackson took the bite from Derek. When her cousin told her about it on the way to school, she nearly had a heart attack. She knew from Stiles that Jackson was blackmailing Scott into getting Peter to bite him but she didn't think he was actually going to go up to Derek like he did and demand to be a werewolf.

While she was shocked, she also understood that Jackson did it. Jackson liked to be better than anyone at everything. He didn't like the fact that Scott was a werewolf and taking over his lacrosse team, so he wanted to do something about it.

If Jackson wasn't being such an ass about Lydia, Olivia might have gone up to him and asked him how he was doing. However, Jackson hadn't spoken a word to her since the night of formal, over than when he was apologizing to her in her hospital room.

There were no texts about how Lydia was doing, nor was there anything about her going missing. It pissed Olivia off because she knew that Jackson _did_ have feelings for Lydia—they were just buried deep, deep down in the hole that was his heart.

"Are you even listening to me?" Stiles hissed at her.

"Hmm?" Olivia turned her eyes from Jackson to Stiles, raising her eyebrows. "Uh, yeah, the liver part sounds bad."

Stiles glared at her. "I stopped talking about the liver a few minutes ago," he turned to Scott, who had been listening in, too. "See what I have to deal with?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it's horrible," Scott rolled his eyes, knowing how much Stiles loved being able to talk to Olivia.

"Deal with me?" Olivia scoffed before sighing, admitting to herself that she was being rude for not listening to him. "Okay, I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was telling you that Jackson said that Lydia would be a problem," Stiles whispered as the final bell rang and Mr. Harris walked into the chemistry room.

Olivia sat straight in her seat next to Stiles and faced the board, knowing that Stiles was Mr. Harris' least favorite student. She didn't want to get dragged down with him.

After taking attendance, Mr. Harris announced that there was going to be a pop quiz. He started handing out the tests and Olivia immediately got to work. The material came natural to her, especially since she spent the weekend by Lydia's side studying.

"All right," Stiles whispered, getting her and Scott's attention. "it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right."

Scott didn't turn around as he replied, "I know."

Olivia didn't think that Lydia was actually turning into a werewolf. Something else had to be going on because Lydia's bite hadn't healed at all during the weekend; if she was a werewolf, her wounds would be gone. Even if she was a werewolf, Lydia liked control—she wouldn't be running all over the place stealing livers and killing people.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?" Stiles insisted.

His whisper wasn't quiet enough, catching Mr. Harris' attention. He spun around at his desk and glowered at Stiles. "This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski," he said sternly. "If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."

Olivia kept her eyes on her paper, minding her own business.

"Can you do that?" Stiles asked, clearly confused.

"Well, there it is again," Mr. Harris scowled. "Your voice, triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at three o'clock for detention."

Stiles made a noise of protest and Mr. Harris' eyes went to Scott. "You too, Mr. McCall?"

Scott shook his head. "No, sir."

Everyone went back to work on their quiz once Mr. Harris stopped nagging at Stiles. Olivia could practically hear Stiles fuming from beside her but when the tingling sensation that was becoming familiar started up in her nose, she became distracted.

It felt like her mind was floating away from her body and water was filling her ears. She had only passed out once in her life, but it kind of felt like that. She could have sworn she was hearing something, too. A name.

When Jackson's stool screeched against the linoleum tiles as he stood up and ran from the room, it became clear what she was hearing.

_Jackson. Jackson. Jackson. _

Olivia abruptly stood up and gave a random excuse to Mr. Harris as she quickly made her way out of the classroom. She wanted to follow Jackson and for some reason, she felt like he would go to the bathroom.

Olivia entered the boys' bathroom and saw that one of the stall doors was open.

"Jackson," she called, hurrying over to him. "are you okay?"

Jackson didn't look okay. He had black liquid falling rapidly from his nose, soaking through the ball of toilet paper he had pressed against it. There was so much liquid that it was dripping into the toilet.

Olivia hurriedly shut the door behind her and grabbed more toilet paper, rolling it into a wad. She held it up to Jackson and he dropped the soiled one into the toilet; more black liquid gushed out of his nose.

She could feel herself panicking because she realized that it wasn't some random liquid—it was blood. His body was trying to heal himself—much like Derek's when he was shot by Kate—and it wasn't working.

As Olivia gave Jackson some more toilet paper, there was a knock on the stall door.

"I'm fine, Danny," Jackson's voice was muffled by the toilet paper. "Just go back to class."

Someone knocked again.

"Just give me a second, okay?!" Jackson snapped, pressing more tissue to his nose. "I said give me a fucking second!"

Olivia gave him a look that told him to calm down but she wasn't very calm herself.

The stall door was forcefully pulled open and Olivia wasn't surprised to see Derek pull Jackson out of the stall. She followed after him as Jackson was pushed into the sinks.

"Derek," Jackson breathed.

"You're looking a little pale there, Jackson," Derek observed, giving Olivia a quick look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You feeling okay?"

He patted Jackson on the shoulder but Jackson flinched away.

"Never better."

"If something's wrong, I need to know," Derek declared. "You're with us, now."

"Wait, with you?" Jackson scoffed. "Me with you? What am I, your little pet? I mean, just because you gave me the bite doesn't mean I'm part of your little wolf pack. Sorry, but to be honest, you don't exactly show outstanding leadership qualities."

"Jackson," Olivia sighed in exasperation, bracing her forehead against her hand.

Derek gave Jackson an annoyed look. "Is that so?"

"Look, I've got my own agenda," Jackson snapped. "Which doesn't involve running around the woods at night, howling at the moon with you and McCall, okay? So why don't you just back the fuck—"

While Jackson was talking, more black blood had started dripping out of him, this time from his ears. Derek pushed his head toward the mirror and his eyes widened in horror as more started dripping down his nose.

"What is it?" he asked shakily. "What's happening?"

Derek narrowed his eyes and Olivia could see that he was shaken. "You're body's fighting the bite."

Olivia closed her eyes in realization. The last time Derek had seen someone reject the bite, she had died. If Jackson's body was rejecting the bite, did that mean he would die, too? He didn't look weak or sick or anything—besides the black blood, he looked perfectly healthy.

"_Why_?"

Derek slowly backed away from Jackson, as though he had a contagious disease. Olivia knew he didn't think that, of course, he was just having bad memories of Paige.

"I don't know."

"What does it mean?" Jackson's voice was harsh as he turned to Derek. "What does it mean?"

Derek continued to back out of the bathroom so Olivia took charge, knowing that freaking out wasn't going to help anyone.

"Jackson, calm down, okay?" she said soothingly as she grabbed the extra roll of paper towel on top of the dispenser. "Come here."

Jackson reluctantly obeyed, annoyed and freaked out about what was going on. As Olivia tended to him, soaking up the blood dripping from his body, he couldn't help but be relieved that she was there to help him.

Stiles glared at the clock placed on the wall above the chalkboard, counting down the seconds until he was free of detention and the horrible Mr. Harris. When five seconds turned into zero, he stood up from his table, ready to head out.

"Sit," Mr. Harris ordered from his desk, not bothering to look up from his grading.

"What?" Stiles gestured to the clock. "but it's been an hour."

"My detention is an hour and a half," Mr. Harris stated calmly, continuing to grade the pop quizzes.

"You can't do that!"

"Oh," Mr. Harris smiled smugly at Stiles. "but I can. You see, _Stiles_, since your father was so judicious in his dealings with me, I've decided to make you my personal project for the rest of the semester. You are going to benefit from all the best that strict discipline has to offer."

Stiles scowled, his temper growing with every word that came out of Mr. Harris' mouth.

"Now, sit down," Mr. Harris demanded. "before I decide to keep you here all night."

Stiles pressed his lips together, trying to keep a snarky comment from escaping his mouth, and sat down. He began his study of the clock once again, wishing he has superpowers that could speed up time.

It was two and a half hours later when Stiles and Scott sat in the forest, looking at the destroyed ambulance. There was blood sprayed all over the interior of the vehicle and a dead body was torn apart. With police officers and paramedics swarming the scene, it was hard to see what exactly attacked the ambulance.

They had an idea, though.

After Stiles had gotten out of detention, he went to the cemetery where Kate Argent's funeral was taking place. He and Scott hid from the family of hunters but were caught by his dad and forced to sit in the back of his cruiser.

It was then that Noah got a call from dispatch; someone had attacked an ambulance and broke into the back, tearing apart the heart attack victim that was dead on arrival. Stiles and Scott snuck out of the cruiser and made their way to the coordinates that dispatch gave his dad.

"What the fuck is Lydia doing?" Stiles breathed, looking over the mess on the road.

Scott shook his head. "I don't know."

"What kept you from doing that?" Stiles asked him. "Was it Allison?"

"I hope so."

"Do you need to get closer?"

Scott inhaled deeply, catching Lydia's scent somewhere nearby. "No, I got it."

Stiles sighed and grabbed Scott's shoulder. "Just—I need you to find her, okay? I know it doesn't seem like it, but I can tell Olivia's messed up about this," he frowned. "Please, just find her."

Scott patted Stiles' hand. "I will."

As Scott took off running to follow Lydia's scent, Stiles went up to the road to check things out. He knew that he'd get in trouble with his dad, but he wanted to know exactly what Lydia did.

Noah caught sight of him immediately and Stiles was subjected to a stern lecture about interfering with his dad's work. Stiles had just started explaining himself—some kind of lie he pulled out of his ass—when rustling of branches caught his attention.

His eyes went to Lydia, who was completely naked with her arms held over her breasts. Her red hair was wild with leaves and sticks and her face and arms were smeared with mud.

"Lydia?" Stiles called to her, trying to get her attention. "Lydia?"

Lydia gulped, shaking from the cold air, and held out her arms. "Well?" she asked loudly. "Is anyone gonna get me a coat?"

Stiles whipped around, facing the exact opposite direction of Lydia's very naked body. He could hear his dad swear under his breath as he took off his jacket and give it to Lydia, but he refused to turn around until Lydia was decent.

Lydia was a very pretty girl but she wasn't the girl he was in love with.


	14. Isaac's First Full Moon

**[2x02; Shape Shifted]**

Olivia stared at Isaac, shocked at his recap of what happened to his dad the night before. According to the new werewolf, his dad had gone on a rampage and when he saw a cut on Isaac's face heal, Isaac ran away.

His dad followed him through the city and when Isaac abandoned his bike and hid in an alley, he watched his dad get killed by some type of creature. He didn't get a good look at it, but he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't human.

She turned to Derek, giving her older cousin a heavy scowl. "Why'd you bring me into this?" she asked grumpily, referring to the fact that he woke her up an hour earlier than she usually did for school and brought her to the abandoned train station where he was currently living. "I don't know what this has to do with me."

"I told you," Derek sighed, knowing that he already explained this to her. "You're part of the pack so you're included in this."

"Okay," Olivia sighed heavily. "So, not only do we have more crazy Argents in town that are declaring war, but we have this mystery creature murdering people, too."

Derek pressed his lips together. "Yep."

Olivia looked over at Isaac and saw that he was ducking his head. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing for right now," Derek stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's the full moon today. Isaac is going to have to be chained up and I want to keep an eye on you, too, Ollie."

"Me?" Olivia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Just because your wound didn't heal, doesn't mean we can't take precautions," Derek reasoned with her. "I want both of you here early, right after school."

"Are you sure that Isaac should be going to school?" Olivia asked before looking over at Isaac. "I mean, no offense, but this is your first full moon and you're like a newborn baby."

"Ollie, shut up," Derek sighed shaking his head. "Just look out for him, okay? Look out for each other. You're pack now, get used to it."

Olivia's phone buzzed against her jean-clad thigh; she sighed and saw that it was a message from Stiles.

_**Stiles:**__ I need to talk to you when you get here_

_**Stiles**__: I have practice before school, so before then would be good_

_**Stiles:**__ Please _

_**Livvy**__: Sure, I'll be there soon_

"Okay, we'll look after each other, right Isaac?" she looked at Isaac for confirmation; he nodded in agreement. "we have to get going, though, because I need to talk to Stiles."

Derek rolled his eyes at the mention of the spastic teen he thought was too annoying for his own good. "What do you need to talk about?"

"He didn't say," Olivia replied, standing up and throwing her bag over her shoulder.

"Don't tell him about the pack," Derek warned her, the three of them leaving the station so Derek could drop them off at school. "We don't need him and Scott interfering."

"I won't tell him anything, Der, relax," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Besides, I want to be there for Lydia when she gets to school."

Derek nodded and fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up to the school. Derek dropped them off toward the back of the parking lot because he didn't want Stiles to figure out that Isaac was a part of his pack yet. What he didn't think about, though, was the fact that Olivia and Isaac had never been friends—at most, they were acquaintances that spoke only in class—and they didn't normally walk into school together.

As Olivia walked with Isaac up to the sidewalk where Stiles was waiting for her, she could immediately see the suspicion in his eyes. His eyes narrowed immediately when he saw the tall blonde next to her and he really didn't look happy.

Olivia said a quiet goodbye to Isaac, telling him to text her if he needed help with control, and then approached Stiles.

"Hey," she greeted him carefully. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Why were you with Isaac Lahey?" Stiles blurted without greeting her back.

"Um," Olivia shook her head, trying to come up with a lie. "He was dropped off next to me. He said hello and I said hello back."

"He was dropped off next to you?" Stiles raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes," Olivia said, gritting her teeth. She didn't like that he was questioning her, especially when it wasn't any of his business. If she wanted to walk with someone, she would. It had nothing to do with him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"How do you even know Isaac?"

"Are you serious, Stiles?" she complained, now irritated.

"I'm just saying, you don't really know him—"

"It's not really any of your business what I—"

"—and really, he's not your type, is he—"

"—how on Earth would you know what my type is—"

"—I know that he's not it—"

"—you don't know anything, Stiles—"

"—I know that—"

"Stiles, this isn't any of your business!" Olivia finally snapped, knowing that they were just going to keep talking over each other. "So, if you're not going to tell me what you wanted to talk about, I'm leaving."

"Fine!" Stiles exclaimed, equally angry. His jealousy was fueling his anger, though, and the more he thought about her and Isaac, his blood boiled. "Are you guys…?"

"That's it," Olivia scoffed and went to walk away from him.

Stiles quickly caught up with her, reminded of the question he intended to ask before jealousy got a hold of him. "Wait, wait," he gently grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop only for his hand to be slapped away. "Ouch! What the hell, Livvy?"

"Don't manhandle me," Olivia scowled.

"I wasn't manhandling you!" Stiles glared down at her and then shook his head. "Look, it's the full moon tonight."

"Okay, and…?"

"And," he gave her an annoyed look. "I wanted to make sure you're okay. Do you need help tonight? I know you said your bite didn't heal but I just want to make sure…"

Olivia pressed her lips together, trying to ignore the warmth blossoming in her chest. It was sweet that Stiles was checking on her but her anger at him overpowered that feeling. "I'll be fine," she said sharply. "Just focus on Scott."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Olivia stomped up to the school, leaving an angry Stiles behind.

"…and she walked in with Isaac Lahey," Stiles finished wrapping up his story, venting to Scott about his earlier argument with Olivia. "so, then we argued and she stomped away."

Scott furrowed his eyebrows. "Isaac Lahey?" he asked doubtfully; never had he seen Isaac and Olivia together. "As in, our teammate Isaac Lahey?"

"Yep," Stiles muttered bitterly. "And she said she didn't want help tonight, so I'm free to help you out."

"I think I'll be fine tonight," Scott told him as they turned down the hallway that led to the boys' locker room.

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah right."

Scott said that the last night of the full moon and he ended up breaking out of his handcuffs and almost killing Allison and Jackson. He knew that Scott's control was good, but he didn't trust it enough yet.

"I'm serious," Scott insisted. "It's not like the last full moon. I don't feel the same."

"Oh, does that include the urge to maim and kill people?" Stiles snarked back at him. "Like me?"

"I swear I don't have the urge to maim and kill you," Scott promised as they entered the locker room.

"You know, you say that now but then the full moon goes up and out come the fangs and the claws and there's a lot of howling and screaming and running everywhere, okay?" Stiles ranted, walking to his locker. "And it's very stressful on me, so yes, I'm still locking you up."

"Okay, fine," Scott conceded. "but I do think I'm more in control now. Especially since things are good with Allison."

Stiles immediately glared at him, already having heard—against his will—numerous stories about what sex with Allison was like. It was more information than he ever wanted to know about his best friend and his girlfriend.

"Okay, I'm aware of how good things are with Allison."

Scott grinned dreamily. "They're really good."

"I—thank you, I know."

"I mean, like, really good."

"All right, I get it," Stiles snapped at him. "Just please shut the fuck up before I have the urge to maim and kill myself."

Scott snickered, amused by Stiles' irritation. "All right, did you get something better than handcuffs this time?"

Finally, a grin lit up Stiles' face. "Yeah, much better."

He slipped off his backpack and opened his locker; immediately, the long length of chain he put on his shelf the day before started falling out and hitting the floor loud enough to get everyone's attention. If a chain falling out of his locker wasn't embarrassing enough, there was also the fact that it seemed to go on forever.

Stiles sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as Coach walked up to him, eyeing the rapidly falling chain.

Thankfully, the chain finally ended. Stiles' embarrassment didn't end, though.

"Part of me wants to ask," Coach spoke up, looking down at the chain on the floor. "The other part says knowing will be more disturbing than anything I could ever imagine. So, I'm gonna walk away."

"That's good," Stiles pointed at Coach as he backed away. "That's a wise choice, Coach."

Everyone else turned away, too, now that the spectacle was finished. Stiles and Scott exchanged awkward smiles and crouched down, gathering up the chain.

When Scott's hands stopped moving, Stiles looked at him to see why he had stopped. Scott's eyes were gold for a brief second before changing back to his normal brown. He was looking around the room, a serious yet alarmed look on his face.

"You okay?" Stiles asked; Scott didn't answer. "Scott."

Scott looked around again before lowering his voice. "There's another," he told Stiles. "In here, right now."

Stiles cocked his head slightly. "Another what?"

"Another werewolf."

_**Isaac**__: Scott knows I'm a werewolf_

_**Isaac**__: Well, he doesn't know it's me_

_**Isaac**__: But he knows that someone is_

Olivia sighed as she read the messages Isaac sent her. Her day had already gone from bad to worse and she didn't think that was possible after her argument with Stiles. If Scott knew that someone around him was a werewolf, it was only a matter of time until he figured out that it was Isaac.

_**Olivia**__: Don't do anything rash. I'm on my way_

"You really don't remember anything?" Allison asked Lydia, taking Olivia's attention away from her phone.

Olivia and Allison had decided to be by Lydia's side as she came back to school, to support her. The people who used to worship the ground that Lydia walked on had turned their backs on her as soon as they found out that she was the girl who had gone on a naked hike in twenty-degree weather.

The gossip was not kind to Lydia but at least what they were saying about her was nicer than what they said about Allison.

"They called it a fugue state," Lydia casually informed Allison. "which is basically a way of saying, '_We have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days._' But personally, I don't care," she grinned. "I lost nine pounds."

Olivia snickered at Lydia's comment and playfully nudged her arm.

Allison grinned. "Are you ready for this?"

"Please," Lydia rolled her eyes. "It's not like my aunt's a serial killer."

As Lydia opened the door and walked into the school, Olivia noticed Allison's frown. She squeezed her arm comfortingly and gave her a quick smile before walking in behind Lydia, who had stopped when she saw all eyes on her.

Lydia was taken aback by the attention and Olivia could tell she was mentally freaking out.

"Maybe it's the nine pounds," she suggested to her cousin, making Allison nod in agreement.

Lydia pressed her lips together and fixed her hair; pulling herself together, she strutted away from Olivia and Allison, ignoring the stares and whispers that followed her.

"Can you keep an eye on her?" Olivia asked Allison. "I have to go take care of something."

Allison agreed and Olivia thanked her before making her way to the practice lacrosse field. The team was already out on the field when she arrived but she quietly took a seat on the bleachers and looked around for Isaac.

She saw Scott and Stiles seated on the player's bench a few feet in front of her, quietly talking about something, and assumed they were trying to figure out who the werewolf was. She found Isaac soon after she looked away from Stiles and Scott, standing by himself on the edge of the field.

Olivia caught his eye and waved; he waved back, looking relieved.

Down on the player's bench, Scott was telling Stiles how he could tell there was a werewolf on their team.

"It was kind of like a scent," he said, playing with his net as he kept his eyes on his teammates. "but I couldn't tell who it was."

Stiles adjusted his elbow pads. "What if you can get him one-on-one?" he asked, coming up with an idea. "Would that help?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," Stiles tapped Scott's chest. "I think I got an idea."

Stiles ran over to Coach and tried to convince him to let Scott play goal for just this practice. Convincing Coach wasn't hard, since Danny had overheard Stiles' request and agreed with switching positions with Scott for the day.

Stiles took the goalie's net and ran back over to Scott, handing it to him. "I told Coach you wanted to switch with Danny for the day."

Scott looked at the net, bewildered. "But I hate playing goal."

Stiles pressed his lips together and gave him an exasperated look. "Remember when I said I had an idea?" he reminded him. "This is the idea."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Stiles rolled his eyes. "There we go."

"What's the idea?"

Stiles sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "I seriously don't understand how you survive without me sometimes."

Coach blew his whistle to start practice and Stiles plopped his helmet on, joining the rest of the team in line for the first practice drill. As he took his spot toward the middle, he discovered—much to his irritation—that he was right behind Isaac Lahey.

Isaac didn't pay him any attention; he was looking out toward the bleachers. Stiles followed his gaze and clenched his jaw tightly when he saw that Isaac was staring at Olivia, who had nodded at Isaac.

_Something else is going on, _he thought_, she wasn't even friends with Isaac. _

Coach blew his whistle again and Stiles focused on the drill, trying to remind himself that they needed to find out who the other werewolf on the team was.

Coach tossed the ball to the first player in line and the player caught it and took off toward the goal. Scott started running out of the goalie's boundaries and met the guy in the middle, tackling him to the ground.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut when he saw Scott very obviously sniff the guy he just tackled. Scott must have been satisfied that he wasn't a werewolf because he helped him to his feet.

"McCall!" Coach yelled. "Usually the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal."

Scott nodded and ran back to the goal. "Yes, Coach."

"Let's try it again," Coach ordered and tossed the ball to the next person in line, which happened to be Matt Daehler. Matt was on second line with Stiles but Stiles didn't like him at all; there was something weird about him.

Matt ran toward the goal and Scott sprinted toward him, tackling him just a few feet away from where he started. Matt flew through the air and landed on his back, allowing Scott to sniff him.

Matt glared at him. "What the hell, man?"

Scott muttered something back to him that Stiles couldn't make out and Coach stomped over to him.

"McCall! The position's goalkeeper," he reminded Scott. "Not goal abandoner."

"Sorry, Coach," Scott apologized, making his way back to the goal.

The same thing happened again; Scott ran out of the goal and tackled the player, sniffing him obviously.

Coach marched over to Stiles and pulled on his mask. "Stilinski," he said angrily. "what the hell is wrong with your friend?"

"Uh," Stiles drawled awkwardly. "he's failing two classes, he's a little socially awkward, and if you look close enough, his jaw line is kinda uneven."

Coach let go of his mask. "That's interesting," he gave Scott a thoughtful look before blowing his whistle again. "Let's fire it up!"

Back at the bleachers, Olivia winced as Danny was tackled by Scott. She couldn't believe that Scott was being so stupid to sniff down every single player in line. As if it wasn't weird that their goalie was tackling them out of bounds and sniffing them.

_Yeah, that was something a normal human being would do. _

If he really needed to find out who the other werewolf was, there were less obvious ways. If it was Olivia, she would have high-fived all the players after practice and used that opportunity to find out then.

When Jackson excused himself out of the drill, it was Isaac's turn. Olivia perked up nervously and bit the inside of her cheek as Isaac's shoulder heaved up and down.

"Isaac, calm down," she whispered, hoping that he'd hear her over his anger.

Isaac caught the ball from Coach and ran toward Scott, who was coming out of the goal again. They collided in the middle and flipped around each other before landing on their hands and knees facing one another.

Olivia was up on her feet and walking down the bleachers as soon as they hit the ground. Coach blew his whistle and that was when she noticed the three police officers walking onto the field.

_No, no, no, _she thought_. Oh, shit. _

Olivia pulled out her phone while practice was put on hold so the police could question Isaac. She texted Derek, giving him a frantic, yet short run-down on what was happening with Isaac.

Once Olivia got a confirmation text from Derek, she walked over to Scott and Stiles.

"What's happening?" she announced her arrival, ignoring the way that Stiles bristled at the sight of her. She kept her eyes on Isaac and the police—which included Sheriff Stilinski.

"His father's dead," Scott told her quietly. "They think he was murdered."

Olivia already knew Isaac's dad was dead, but from what Isaac told her, his dad was shredded apart. Did the police really think a meek teenage boy could do that?

Apparently, they did; Sheriff Stilinski ushered Isaac off the field with his deputies.

"Are they saying he's a suspect?" Stiles asked, looking at Scott nervously.

"I'm not sure."

"Why?" Olivia crossed her arms over her chest as she looked to Stiles for an answer.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. "Because they can lock him in a holding cell for twenty-four hours."

"Like overnight?" Scott said quietly.

Olivia felt her chest tighten at the realization that Isaac was probably going to be at the police station for his first full moon. "During the full moon."

Scott and Stiles looked over at her, startled by her statement. They hadn't known that she knew that Isaac was a werewolf.

"Wait," Scott shook his head. "How did you—"

Olivia interrupted him and asked Stiles, "How good are those holding cells at actually holding people?"

"People? Good," Stiles shook his head. "Werewolves? Probably not that good."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "_Shit_."

"Stiles," Scott looked back at Isaac, watching as Isaac peeked over at them. "remember when I said I don't have the urge to maim and kill?"

"Yeah."

"He does."

"It's because it's his first full moon," Olivia pointed out to them. "Didn't you have that same urge, Scott?"

"Well, yeah, but," Scott shook his head to focus. "No, how did you know that Isaac was a werewolf?"

"Oh, come on, Scott," Stiles scoffed, giving Olivia a dirty look. "it's obvious. Derek bit Isaac and told her."

"Yeah," Olivia confirmed; she didn't understand why Stiles was giving her a look that told her she should be ashamed by that. "He was bit the other day after the Argents declared war."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Scott asked her, shocked that she seemed to know everything.

Olivia looked at him, confused. "I didn't know I had to?"

Stiles made a noise of disbelief. "You didn't know you had to?" he repeated. "Are you serious?"

"Well, it's pack business," Olivia shrugged uncomfortably under their hard stares. She understood that Stiles was already angry with her, but she didn't exactly do anything wrong. "It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"_Pack_ business?!" Stiles flailed his arms angrily. "Are you saying you're part of Derek's pack?"

"…He's my cousin…"

"Well," Stiles huffed and sent her a glare. "That's just great, Olivia. Some friend you are."

Olivia raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm confused," she admitted honestly. She didn't see why Stiles and Scott were making this a choice between them and Derek. Couldn't they all just work together? "I don't know why you're angry."

Scott didn't seem as angry as Stiles, just a little hurt, and that confused her. Stiles was so angry and she was trying to figure out why. Why did it bother him so much that she was part of Derek's pack?

"Of course you don't know," Stiles grabbed Scott's practice jersey and started pulling him away.

Olivia stared after them, wondering what just happened.

"Why would Derek choose Isaac?" Scott, who had taken Olivia's usual seat next to Stiles in chemistry class, whispered as Mr. Harris took notes on the board.

"Peter told me that if the bite doesn't turn you, it could kill you," Stiles said thoughtfully, though it wasn't necessarily true. Olivia and Lydia were bitten and they weren't dead or a werewolf. "Maybe teenagers have a better chance of surviving."

"Doesn't being a teenager mean your dad can't hold him?" Scott questioned, turning in his seat to look at Stiles.

"Well, not unless they have solid evidence or a witness…" Stiles winced, noting that Jackson had been approached by a police officer outside of the locker room. "Wait."

He turned around in his seat, facing Danny and Olivia, who had taken Jackson's empty seat. He only looked at the petite brunette for a second—he saw that she was engrossed in her notes and looking between whatever she wrote down in her notebook and what the textbook said—because he knew his anger with her would dissipate if she looked at him again with those confused blue eyes.

"Danny," he whispered, getting both of their attentions; Danny looked at him expectantly. "Where's Jackson?"

"In the principal's office talking to your dad," Danny told him.

"What?" Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Maybe because he lives across the street from Isaac."

Stiles pressed his lips together and turned back around, exchanging a knowing look with Scott.

"Witness," Scott took the word out of his mouth.

Stiles nodded. "We gotta get to the principal's office."

"How?"

Stiles clicked his tongue as he thought of a way to get sent to the principal's office; provoking Mr. Harris would probably be the best bet. He gave Scott a be-quiet look and tore off some paper from his notebook, crinkling it up into a ball.

"Everyone please turn to page seventy-three," Mr. Harris announced and Stiles sent the paper ball flying into the back of his head. Some students laughed as Harris angrily whipped around. "Who in the hell did that?"

Stiles and Scott lifted their hands, pointing at one another. They were promptly sent to the principal's office and told to wait outside by the flustered secretary.

They waited patiently, hearing Jackson and Noah speak through the thin wall they sat against. For an investigation, they were talking pretty loud which wasn't good for the police but good for Stiles and Scott.

"_Wait, so you're telling me that you knew Isaac's father was hitting him?" _Noah asked Jackson, his voice tense.

"_Hitting him?" _Jackson scoffed._ "He was kicking the crap out of him."_

_God, _Stiles shook his head_, what a dick. _

"_Did you every say anything to anyone?" _Noah seemed flustered by Jackson's nonchalant attitude. _"A teacher, parents, anyone?"_

"_Nope, it's not my problem."_

"_No, no, of course not," _Noah said, disgusted._ "You know, it's funny that the kids getting beaten up are always the ones who least deserve it."_

"_Yeah," _Jackson replied absentmindedly._ "Wait, what?"_

"_I think we're done here."_

The door opened and Stiles quickly reached for a nearby magazine, holding it up over his face so that his dad couldn't recognize him. He waited behind it patiently as Noah paused right in front of him.

"Hi, Scott," Noah greeted his best friend.

Scott breathed back a greeting and there was an awkward silence before Stiles heard two set of footsteps walk away from them. He lowered the magazine, thankful that his dad hadn't noticed him.

Scott rolled his eyes at him but Stiles just shrugged innocently.

"Boys," a new voice greeted them. "Come on in."

Stiles and Scott followed the voice, both of them gaping when they saw who it belonged to. Gerard Argent, who they had seen at Kate's funeral and had declared war on the werewolves in Beacon Hills, stood in front of them, smiling politely.

Stiles and Scott slowly stood up and exchanged frantic looks as they followed Gerard into his office. They quietly sat down while their new principal pulled their files, keeping their eyes toward the floor.

Stiles was kind of amazed and scared about the fact that the Argents had somehow gotten rid of their old principal and replaced him with Gerard in the matter of a few days. Who even knew where their old principal was—probably buried in some ditch somewhere.

"Scott McCall," Gerard drawled, reading Scott's file. "Academically not the most accomplished but I see you have become quite the star athlete."

Scott grimaced and Gerard picked up Stiles' file.

"Mr. Stilinski," Gerard looked at Stiles, who nodded. "Oh, perfect grades but little to no extracurriculars. Maybe you should try lacrosse."

"Oh, actually, I'm already—"

"Hold on, McCall," Gerard interrupted Stiles thoughtfully, his eyes turning back to Scott. "You're the Scott that was dating my granddaughter."

"We were dating but not anymore," Scott said nervously. "Not dating, not seeing any of each other, or doing anything with each other at all."

"Relax, Scott," Gerard narrowed his eyes, though his voice was kind. "you look like you're about to crack a cyanide pill with your teeth."

_What an odd reference_, Stiles thought, rolling his eyes.

Scott shrugged sheepishly. "Just a hard break-up."

"Oh, that's too bad," Gerard said sympathetically. "You seem like a pretty nice kid to me."

Stiles and Scott gave each other knowing looks.

"Now, listen, guys," he went on. "Yes, I am the principal but I really don't want you to think of me as the enemy."

Stiles scoffed. "Huh, is that so?"

Gerard ignored him, as if he hadn't spoken. "However, this being my first day, I do need to support my teachers. So, unfortunately, someone is going to have to take the fall and stay behind for detention."

Stiles looked down, fiddling with the lower buttons of his plaid shirt and only looked up when there were a few seconds of silence. He saw both Scott and Gerard looking at him pointedly and he sighed heavily.

Another detention for him.

"Tell me what's going on."

Olivia looked away from her phone, where she had messaged Lydia that she was leaving school early with Derek, and sighed, "The police came for Isaac and I guess he's a suspect in his dad's murder. Jackson was called to give his statement to Sheriff Stilinski because he lives across the street from Isaac. Scott and Stiles went to the principal's office to check things out, I guess."

"Anything else?"

"They know Isaac and I are part of your pack," Olivia finished, leaning forward to pop her head between the front seats of Derek's Camaro. In front of them, she saw Sheriff Stilinski leading Isaac to his police cruiser, handcuffs around his wrists. "and I guess they're taking him in as a suspect."

"Damn it," Derek muttered bitterly.

Isaac was carefully placed into the back of the cruiser and then drove away. Derek waited patiently and when Scott appeared outside of the school, he drove up to him and lowered his window.

"Get in," Derek ordered him.

Scott scoffed and stomped over to the car. "Are you serious?" he asked angrily. "You did that. That's your fault."

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"I know that," Derek admitted. "Now get in the car and help me."

"No, I've got a better idea," Scott argued. "I'm gonna call a lawyer because a lawyer might actually have a chance at getting him out before the moon goes up."

"Not when they do a real search of the house," Derek raised his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever Jackson said to the cops, what's in the house is worse," Derek explained impatiently. "A lot worse."

Olivia leaned forward in her seat so that Scott could see her. "Scott, get in," she told him. "We're trying to help Isaac."

Scott hesitated for a second, obviously thinking about what he should do, and then sighed heavily. He opened the door and slid in, letting Derek peal out of the parking lot.

Olivia moved her flashlight around the room, illuminating a mess of glass and shattered plates on the floor of the kitchen. Isaac's house was dark and empty but the police hadn't been there yet, so nothing was cataloged.

She walked slightly behind Scott and Derek as she studied the walls. There were pictures of an older boy and Isaac and some of a woman that she assumed was his mother. There were also pictures of the family together, looking happy.

It was amazing what people could hide behind a mask.

"If Isaac didn't kill his father, who did?" Scott asked quietly as they continued through the house.

"I don't know yet."

"Then how do you know he's telling the truth?" Scott raised a skeptical eyebrow at Derek.

"Because I trust my senses," Derek answered simply. "And it's a combination of them, not just your sense of smell."

Scott stopped walking and looked back at Derek, embarrassed. "Did Olivia tell you about the lacrosse thing today?"

"Yes, I did," Olivia spoke up, shaking her head in amusement.

Now that Scott was done being an idiot, it was kind of funny.

"Did it look that bad?" Scott glanced between her and Derek.

Derek clapped his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Yeah," he confirmed. "Come on…"

Derek led Olivia and Scott over to a door just off the kitchen. "You wanna learn?" he asked Scott as he opened the door. "Let's start now."

Scott pointed his flashlight down the stairs, lighting up the concrete floor of the basement. "What's down there?"

"Motive," Derek followed down the stairs after Scott, Olivia right after him.

When the two beams of light from their torches flashed over the basement, they saw that it was filled with random stuff. There was an old bike, some stools, a few creepy dolls, and a large freezer.

"And what am I looking for?"

"Follow your senses," Derek instructed.

Scott closed his eyes and waited for his senses to come alive and help him out. Olivia stepped toward the freezer absentmindedly, seeing that there was a padlock on the outside of it.

"What happened down here?" Scott asked, feeling heavy fear and anxiety. He made his way over to the freezer and stopped next to Olivia.

"The kind of thing that leaves an impression," Derek stood behind Olivia but kept his eyes on Scott. "Open it."

Scott shakily pulled the padlock off the freezer and opened the lid; Olivia gasped when she saw what was in it. Bloody marks were scratched into the walls and inside of the lid and the whole bottom was stained brown, presumably from dried blood.

Olivia felt tears well up in her eyes as she thought about what must have happened; Isaac was locked in this freezer and by the many nail marks, it was often. She couldn't believe how badly Isaac had been treated.

She decided then and there that she'd protect Isaac with her life.

"God," she whimpered, backing away from the freezer. She could practically feel the desperation and fear coming from the carvings from Isaac's nails. It broke her heart that Isaac had to go through this.

Scott looked over at Derek, his eyes wide. "This is why he said yes to you?"

Derek nodded. "Everyone wants power."

"If we help you, then you have to stop," Scott told Derek, as if he had any authority over him. "You can't just go around turning people into werewolves."

"I can if they're willing," Derek stated while Olivia rolled her eyes at the younger werewolf.

"Did you tell Isaac about the Argents?" Scott asked pointedly. "About being hunted?"

"Yes," Derek nodded. "and he still asked."

"Then he's an idiot."

"Look around, Scott," Olivia spoke up, pointing at the bloody freezer. "Do you think Isaac was any safer in this house with his father?"

Scott looked back at the freezer and dropped his gaze, seeming a little ashamed of his remark.

"Besides," Derek added. "You're the idiot dating Argent's daughter."

Scott whipped his head to Olivia and glared at her, but she shook her head, trying to tell him that she didn't tell Derek. She wouldn't do that, especially if Scott's life was at stake.

"Yeah, I know your little secret and Olivia didn't tell me, either," Derek confirmed. "And if I know, how long do you think it's gonna take for them to find out?"

Scott bowed his head and gulped anxiously.

"You saw what happens to an omega," Derek reminded him, referring to the omega werewolf that came into town and was cut in half by Gerard. "With me, you learn how to use all of your senses. With me, you learn control," he grabbed Scott's hand and held it up, pointing out his growing claws. "even on a full moon."

Scott ripped his hand from Derek's grasp. "If I'm with you, I lose her."

"You're gonna lose her anyway," Derek said flatly. "You know that."

Derek closed the freezer and motioned for Olivia to follow him out of the basement. They were at the bottom of the stairs when Scott stopped them.

"Wait," he called, walking over to them. "I'm not part of your pack but I want him out. He's my responsibility too."

"Why?" Derek raised his eyebrows. "Because he's one of us?"

Scott shook his head. "Because he's innocent."

"One thing," Olivia spoke up, making Scott and Derek look over at her. "How are we gonna break Isaac out of a holding cell?"

Scott gave her a pointed look that had her rolling her eyes.

Stiles picked Olivia and Derek up outside of Isaac's house twenty minutes later.

Scott was going to be staying at Isaac's house to wait out the full moon and Allison was going to join him as soon as possible. Olivia, Derek, and Stiles were tasked to getting to the police station and breaking Isaac out of his cell before he could feel the moon's effects.

Stiles didn't look pleased to see Olivia or Derek but he managed not to say any negative or sarcastic comments as they drove to the station.

Olivia gasped softly as her body started to tingle. Isaac's name popped into her head, followed closely by Scott's and it filled her with a sense of urgency.

"Hurry," she urged Stiles; she had a feeling that Isaac was already starting to turn.

Stiles huffed and sped up; they pulled up to the station five minutes later.

"Okay," Stiles said as he parked the Jeep and looked toward Olivia and Derek. "Now, the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office. The problem is getting past the front desk."

Derek looked through the window by the reception area, seeing that it was a woman manning the desk. "I'll distract her."

He went to open his door but Stiles reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Woah, woah, you? You're not going in there," he said firmly. He faltered when Derek's glare settled on the hand still on his shoulder. "I'm taking my hand off."

Stiles quickly pulled his hand away from Derek.

"Stiles," Olivia sighed. "Derek was exonerated."

"He's still a person of interest," Stiles argued.

"An innocent person," Derek spoke up.

"Ha, you?" Stiles scoffed but deflated when two sets of annoyed glares landed on his face. "I don't like you two gaining up on me," he grumbled. "Okay, fine. What's your plan?"

Derek gave him an obvious look. "To distract her."

"Uh-huh, how?" Stiles asked, annoyed. "By punching her in the face?"

Derek laughed sarcastically. "By talking to her."

"Okay, all right, give me a sample. What are you going to open with?" Stiles requested, making Olivia shake her head in amusement. Derek just glared at him, causing him to sigh. "Dead silence. That should work beautifully. Any other ideas?"

"I'm thinking about punching you in the face."

"All right," Olivia spoke up sternly, intervening before Derek could get violent or Stiles lost his temper. "Derek just distract her while Stiles and I get the keys, okay? Is that fine with you two or are you guys gonna argue like fifth graders until Isaac destroys everything in his path?"

Stiles and Derek grumbled their replies and the three of them got out of the Jeep. Olivia and Stiles hid in the breezeway while Derek walked straight up to the reception desk, getting the deputy's attention.

"Good evening, how can I help—" the deputy saw Derek and practically melted. "_you_?"

Derek grinned at her. "Hi."

Stiles rolled his eyes, annoyed, and Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to stop her laughter. Derek smiling wasn't something you saw often but it always amused her when he did flash a grin here and there.

"Hi."

"Um, sorry," Derek shook his head as if he was dazed. "I'm a little thrown. I wasn't really expecting someone—"

"Like me?" the deputy guessed.

"Oh, I was gonna say so incredibly beautiful but I guess that'd be the same thing," Derek flirted, leaning up against the desk.

While the deputy was distracted by Derek, Stiles and Olivia silently walked through the lobby. Stiles was dramatic about it, twisting and turning in a very spy-movie way, but they got to his dad's office without being caught, so it didn't really matter.

Stiles pulled out his keychain and picked out a key, slipping it into Sheriff Stilinski's door. It opened without any trouble and Stiles led Olivia over to the opposite wall where there was a lockbox against the wall with a keypad next to it.

He went to press the code into the keypad but nothing happened; no lights came on and there was no beeping sound. Stiles jiggled the keypad and cursed when it fell off the wall completely.

"_Fuck_."

"That's not good, is it?" Olivia asked him quietly.

"No, it's not," Stiles rubbed his hand over his head. "Okay, come on."

They walked out of the office and down the hallway to where Stiles said the holding cells were located. Turning into another hall, they came face-to-face with a deputy.

"Oh, uh, we're just looking—"

That was when Olivia and Stiles realized that there was something wrong about the man. He was limping, there was a trail of blood following behind him, and an arrow sticking out of his injured leg.

He also happened to be holding a syringe of wolfsbane.

"Oh, fuck," Stiles cursed again as he and Olivia turned to run.

The man—who they both correctly assumed was the hunter going after Isaac that Allison had tried to slow down—grabbed Stiles and pulled him back, dragging him forcefully down the hallway.

Olivia whipped around when she noticed that Stiles wasn't next to her and saw the hunter trying to take down a struggling Stiles.

"Stiles!" she yelled, rushing toward him. She pulled the fire alarm and went to punch the hunter but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her arm and dragged her, along with Stiles, into the holding cell area.

The alarm started ringing throughout the station and red lights began to flicker on and off through in the hallways. The hunter threw Olivia and Stiles to the ground and went to tend to Isaac but the three of them saw that all the holding cells were empty.

And then the hunter was thrown against a wall as Isaac lunged at him. Olivia and Stiles watched, dumbfounded, as Isaac broke the hunter's arm that held the wolfsbane and growled in his face. Knocking out the hunter, Isaac slammed his head into the wall.

With the hunter taken care of, Isaac abruptly turned around to face Stiles and Olivia. He growled and ran toward them but Olivia pushed Stiles out of the line of fire and grabbed Isaac's arms.

"Isaac, no!" she said loudly, trying to break through to him. "Control yourself."

Isaac's golden eyes widened and the snarl on his lips faded as he seemed to settle down. He was instantly back on alert as Derek walked into the room and stepped on the syringe of wolfsbane.

Isaac growled at him but Derek roared back, flashing his alpha-red eyes at his new beta. Isaac reared back and whimpered, covering his head as he tried to hide against the wall.

It was quiet except for the fire alarm as Isaac changed back to his human form. He warily looked up at Derek and Olivia made her way toward him, patting his back comfortingly.

"How did you do that?" Stiles spoke up, looking over at Derek and Olivia.

Derek smirked at him. "I'm the alpha."

Stiles could except that reasoning but he wasn't really asking Derek. When Olivia had tried to comfort Isaac before Derek even stepped into the room, she did something.

Her eyes had turned bright purple when she held onto Isaac and calmed him down.


	15. Arguing and Making Up

**[2x03; Ice Pick]**

Stiles stared out the windshield of his Jeep, his eyes narrowed as he tried to ignore the inquisitive look his best friend was giving him. He didn't blame Scott for being confused; lately, his moods went back and forth and even he was getting whiplash.

The reason for his bad moods? Derek Fucking Hale.

Well, it wasn't just Derek, but if Stiles really thought about it, it all came down to the new alpha.

First, Derek just had to kill Peter and be the new alpha in town. Then, he bit Isaac and now Olivia was in his pack and keeping secrets. And, yeah, Stiles and Olivia weren't super close, but he thought they understood each other and had begun a tentative friendship, especially after the night of the formal.

Apparently, he was mistaken.

It was his growing love for Olivia and his current anger with her that had him going back and forth. Because one minute, he's scowling over the fact that Olivia was close with Isaac and helping him out with his control and had picked him and Derek over Stiles and Scott. The other minute, he'd look over at Olivia and catch her staring at him; she'd give him a small, hesitant smile that had him practically melting on the inside and he was a goner until he remembered her pack allegiance.

So, yeah, it was Derek's fault.

"So…"

"So what?" Stiles snapped as he pulled into the school parking lot.

"You're still pissed at Olivia, I'm guessing," Scott assumed, giving Stiles a pointed look; Stiles pressed his lips together. "Dude, it's been a week. She's Derek's cousin, of course she's gonna be in his pack."

Stiles grunted, pulling into an empty parking space.

"And, you know, she doesn't really have to choose," Scott went on, surprising Stiles with how mature he was about the whole thing; he guessed it was only him that was offended with Olivia being part of Derek's pack. "She can be friends with us and still be in Derek's pack. She's not the enemy."

Stiles sighed. "I know she's not the enemy but it feels like she betrayed us," he admitted. "I mean, remember how Derek lied to you about Peter?"

"Olivia didn't have anything to do with that."

"I guess," Stiles conceded, turning off his car. "I don't know how I feel but I'm not pissed at her…"

"Why haven't you been talking to Stiles lately?" Lydia asked from beside Olivia, clad in a pink jumpsuit that looked more for fashion than for the gym class they were currently in.

Olivia looked away from where she was watching Scott and Allison climb the dreaded rock wall and frowned at her cousin. "He's pissed at me."

Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Stiles Stilinski is pissed at you?" Olivia nodded and Lydia chuckled. "So, there's trouble in paradise?"

"Well, there was no paradise to begin with," Olivia shook her head. "Why do you ask about Stiles?"

"He's been sneaking more looks at you than usual," Lydia shrugged and smirked, nodding over to where Stiles was standing.

Olivia looked and wasn't surprised to see Stiles quickly look away from her, just like he had been doing all week since the full moon. She knew that he was mad she was in Derek's pack but what was she supposed to do? Abandon one of the only family she had left? She was falling short of relatives, especially since Peter died, and she wanted to spend time with her family for as long as she could.

Plus, she didn't know what was going on with her, so it seemed like a good choice to stick with Derek, who had more experience with the supernatural than she did.

Besides, Stiles didn't understand that Olivia wasn't not on their side, too. Why did she have to pick between Derek and her friends?

Olivia looked away from Stiles and back to the rock wall just in time to see Allison kick Scott off of it. He fell down to the mat, his harness stopping him just a few inches away from the protective material.

The class erupted into laughs, Coach being one of the loudest.

"McCall, I don't know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy," Coach commented joyfully as Allison hovered down the wall. "All right, next two! Stilinski and Erica, let's go."

Olivia's eyes went right back to Stiles as his name was called and smiled in amusement as she got a better look at his t-shirt; it was blue and had the word "stud" with a cartoon muffin underneath it. After Allison gave him the harness, he slipped it on.

As Erica was putting on her own harness, Allison approached Lydia and Olivia, coming to stand next to him.

"Congrats on your win," Olivia smirked at her. "I can't believe Scott fell so far behind."

Allison shrugged and grinned back at her. "Some of us are more talented than others."

"True," Olivia conceded, thinking of her own climb with Lydia by her side. Neither one of them were fantastic at it but Lydia somehow still beat her.

Coach told Stiles and Erica that they could start climbing and Stiles took off immediately. He climbed the rocks surprisingly fast and it left Olivia amazed because she didn't know Stiles was that athletic.

Maybe he just acted like he was bad at lacrosse.

Stiles had already climbed down the wall and was celebrating by the time Erica got halfway.

Olivia knew of Erica but she had never spoken to her more than three times. She had chemistry with Erica and she knew she had epilepsy because she had a seizure in class a week or so before winter break. Mr. Harris had been an asshole about it and let people record her seizure on their phones—Olivia and Danny had been the ones to roll her onto her side and make people back off.

Erica was not well liked at school and Olivia thought that it was stupid how people made fun of her just because of her epilepsy. She knew the blonde was smart because she almost all of the same classes as her and Lydia and she seemed pretty nice. Olivia also knew that Isaac was friends with Erica and he spoke highly of her.

Erica stopped climbing and started shaking, a sob escaping her throat. She started hyperventilating, catching Coach's attention. Unfortunately, that meant the whole class had a front row seat to watch her freak out.

"Erica?" Coach called up to her. "Are you dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "Coach, vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," she corrected him. "Maybe she's just scared."

"Erica!" Coach looked back up to the hysterical blonde. "Erica?"

"I'm fine," Erica responded shakily.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe," Allison spoke up, her worried eyes on Erica. "You know she's epileptic."

"What?" Coach grunted, annoyed. "Why doesn't anybody tell me this stuff? I have to—" he shook his head and looked back up at Erica. "Erica, you're fine. Just—just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you."

Erica hesitated for a few seconds before she slowly and carefully hovered down the rock wall. As soon as her feet touched the black mat, Coach patted her on the shoulder.

"See, you're fine. You're on the ground," he said softly and Olivia thought that he was actually being a decent human being for once. Until he spoke again, "You're all right. Let's go, shake it off."

The class, minus Olivia and her friends, started laughing at Erica as she unbuckled her harness and walked out of the gym. Olivia shook her head; she hated high schoolers.

Erica wasn't in the locker room when the rest of the girls went in to change into their normal school clothes. As they got changed, Olivia, Allison, and Lydia chatted about their plans for that night. The three of them, along with Stiles and Scott, were going ice skating at the local rink that Stiles was renting from an employee they went to school with.

They were all excited—Lydia and Olivia because they took ice skating lessons together as children and Allison because she could be with Scott without trying to hide their relationship. Olivia was also looking forward to clearing the air with Stiles; she was tired of him being mad at her.

A loud scream that came from the gym caught their attention. Everyone ran out of the locker room and into the gym, where Scott was holding a seizing Erica in his arms. Olivia pushed past some of the boys that were just watching and crouched down next to them.

"Put her on her side," she urged Scott, helping him turn Erica over. "It's better for her."

Scott nodded and held onto Erica as she gripped his arm to her chest.

"How'd you know?" Olivia asked him, giving him a confused look.

Scott shrugged. "I just felt it."

When Erica's seizure ended and nine-one-one was called, Olivia backed away from the crowd. She went back into the locker room to pull on her cardigan and took her phone out of her purse.

She needed to talk to Derek about Erica.

Stiles slowly walked into the cafeteria and looked around, spotting Boyd sitting at his usual table. He made his way over to him, trying to look inconspicuous, his hand hidden in the pockets of his purple hoodie.

"Boyd," he greeted his classmate as he sat across from him. "You got the keys?"

Boyd didn't speak as he held out the keys to the skating rink. Stiles grinned and tried to take them from him, but Boyd held them our of reach.

"This isn't a favor," Boyd reminded him. "It's a transaction."

"Right, yeah," Stiles agreed casually, slipped his wallet from his jeans. He pulled out a twenty-dollar-bill and set it on the table. "Absolutely."

Boyd gave him an unimpressed look. "I said fifty."

"Really?" Stiles asked innocently. "I remember twenty. I don't know. I have a really good verbal memory and I remember twenty," he nodded jerkily. "I remember that distinct '_twa'_ sound. Twa-enty."

"I said fifty," Boyd said sharply. "With a '_fa'_ sound. Hear the difference?"

"Uh—"

"If you can't, I can demonstrate some other words with the '_fa'_ sound," Boyd offered.

_Okay, that was a good one_, Stiles had to admit to himself.

"Uh, okay, I think I'm recalling it," Stiles chuckled, pulling out another twenty. "Maybe I just got it confused with for-ty."

Boyd didn't budge; he stared blankly at Stiles as he popped a Dorito in his mouth.

"Come on, man," Stiles sighed, exasperated. "have you seen the piece-of-shit Jeep that I drive?"

"You seen the piece-of-shit bus I take?" Boyd replied, unsympathetic.

_He got me again. _

Stiles pulled out a ten-dollar-bill from his wallet and added it to the forty already on the table. Boyd smiled pleasantly and held out the keys to the skating rink.

Stiles gave him an annoyed smile and took the keys. "Thank you."

Boyd didn't reply, so he left the table and made his way over to his usual spot where Scott was already sitting. "Got 'em," he slid the keys over to Scott. "Pick you up right after work tonight and we'll meet at the rink, cool?"

Scott went to reply but he was distracted by someone walking into the cafeteria. Stiles looked, too, and was surprised to see Erica strutting into the room with a smirk on her face.

She didn't look anything like the Erica that was having a seizure that morning. Her face had cleared up and she was wearing dark red lipstick that went well with all the black leather she was wearing. It seemed like her legs went on forever in the leopard-print heels she wore and Stiles had to admit she looked pretty good.

Erica walked up to some random guy and bent over, stealing the apple from his tray. She bit into the apple and smiled seductively, wiping the juice from her lips, and then tossed the fruit back to its owner.

Lydia stormed up to Stiles and Scott's table, a calm Olivia by her side, and slapped her hands down on the surface.

"What—the holy fuck—is that?" she spat, glaring daggers at the blonde as she walked back out of the cafeteria.

"It's Erica," Olivia supplied.

Scott abruptly stood up and Stiles followed him out of the cafeteria, both of them trying to catch up with Erica. She was already out of the building when they pushed through the doors out of school, and they stopped in their tracks when they saw her walking around Derek's Camaro.

Erica smirked at them as she slid into the passenger seat and Stiles' blood boiled when Derek flashed them a grin as he drove off.

The door opened behind them and Olivia stepped out; Stiles and Scott turned around to look at her, both of them angry.

"You told Derek about Erica?" Stiles practically exploded. "What the hell is wrong with you, Olivia?"

Olivia tried not to flinch away from his anger. "Erica had epilepsy. I was just—"

"Just ruining her life," Scott spoke up, his jaw clenched.

"Erica chose this," Olivia said indignantly, thinking that their anger with her was unjustified. "Besides, the bite is a gift."

Stiles scoffed, unable to believe that Olivia was spouting off the same shit her dad did after he bit her. "Yeah?" he said mockingly. "and how's that working out for you, Olivia?"

Olivia stiffened and her gaze narrowed though Stiles could see the sadness in her cobalt-blue eyes. He almost regretted bringing her bite up but then she opened her mouth to retort and his anger rose.

"You know what?" he said before she could say anything. "Do me a favor and don't come with us tonight."

Olivia reared back like she had been slapped and, to her, it felt like she had. She had been looking forward to making up with Stiles and hanging out with him and the rest of her friends and now he didn't even want her to come.

She just didn't understand why he was so angry at her. And she also didn't understand why it her hurt so much to know that he was angry at her.

Stiles didn't want her around and she had never felt so out of place.

Olivia rubbed her sternum where she could feel her rapid heartbeat. "Okay," she finally whispered, looking away from Stiles' cold glare. "I won't come."

Stiles jerkily nodded and walked away, Scott following after he sent a hesitant look.

Arriving to the skating rink felt bitter to Stiles now that Olivia wasn't going to be there but he had Scott, Allison, and Lydia counting on him for tonight, so he couldn't exactly bail on them. He and Scott waited outside the rink until Lydia and Allison arrived and when they finally pulled up, Stiles unlocked the doors.

Allison and Scott grinned excitedly and even Lydia gave him an impressed look as she walked in. Once everyone got the correct size skates, they sat down on the bleachers to put them on.

Allison and Scott finished quickly, leaving Stiles alone with Lydia.

As Stiles finished up tying his last skate, Lydia shivered.

"Could it be any colder in here?" she asked bitterly.

Stiles unzipped his backpack and pulled out an orange hoodie, holding it out to her. "Here."

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm wearing blue," she said like she was talking to a preschooler. "Orange and blue? Not a good combination."

"But it's the colors of the Mets," Stiles objected and he felt like he was having déjà vu.

Lydia nodded, as if she was remembering something. "Right, Liv told me you were a fan," she recalled as Stiles pulled a candy bar out of his backpack to snack on. "Is that a Mounds bar?"

Stiles froze and looked over at her. "Yeah."

"Liv is the only one I know that eats those," Lydia cocked her head, a small smirk appearing on her lips.

"Really? I didn't know that," Stiles lied, rubbing the back of his neck. He had brought the candy bar specially for Olivia until she told Derek about Erica. "Did Olivia really tell you that I like the Mets?"

"Yeah," Lydia nodded, noticing how shy he seemed. "She couldn't believe that you preferred them over the Dodgers."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Of course, she'd like the Dodgers."

"So, why didn't you want her to come?" Lydia asked him as he absentmindedly unwrapped the Mounds bar. "She said you were pissed at her."

"I am," he mumbled, biting into the candy. He grimaced at the bitter dark chocolate but found that the coconut really sweetened it up.

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

Lydia sighed. "If you tell anyone I'm giving you advice right now, I'll kill you," she warned him; Stiles nodded with wide eyes. "Olivia is oblivious sometimes. It's like she has blinders on for some things and for other things, she sees clearly."

"And she also always thinks she right—we share that trait, so you can imagine how complicated game nights at our house are," Lydia continued with a fond smile. "I'm telling you this so you can understand why she can get lost in her own head sometimes. She's oblivious to the fact that you like her and she doesn't understand what she did wrong for you to be so angry with her."

"She knows I like her," Stiles pointed out. "I told her at the winter formal."

"Yeah and both of us were attacked that night," Lydia reminded him. "Some things get lost in the details. Look, I'm not trying to convince you to not be mad anymore. That's not my place. I'm just saying…Liv's been lost since you started arguing and though she doesn't realize why, it's easy for me to figure out."

Stiles nodded, trying to absorb everything that Lydia was telling him.

"Come on," Lydia stood up. "I came to skate and since Liv's not here, you'll have to do."

Olivia picked at the pasta she had made for the pack, her appetite no where to be seen. She had felt sick to her stomach since school ended and it only got worse when the time when she was supposed to meet up with Lydia, Allison, Stiles, and Scott passed.

She felt left out but she also felt annoyed—at Stiles and herself. She was annoyed that Stiles was so mad at her and she was annoyed at herself for being so upset that he was mad at her.

And she did feel somewhat sorry. Stiles and Scott felt like she had betrayed them and she could understand where they were coming from—only a little bit, though. Because from her point of view, Erica needed to be a werewolf. She had epilepsy, for crying out loud, and it wasn't like Derek forced her to get the bite. Derek had explained everything to Erica just like he had told Isaac.

It was Erica's choice to take the bite—not Scott McCall's or Stiles Stilinski's.

"Thanks for inviting us over, Olivia," Erica spoke up shyly as she finished her dinner.

Olivia, realizing that she had spaced out, smiled at her. "No problem, Erica. We're pack now and I was lonely. Aunt Natalie's on a business trip and Lydia's out."

Olivia's tone must have sounded sadder than she realized because even Derek noticed how down she looked.

"Are you okay, Ollie?" he asked, setting down his empty water glass.

"Stiles uninvited her from their ice-skating group date," Isaac spoke up, having gotten the whole story from Olivia herself. "That's where Lydia is."

Olivia glared at him; she had told him that in confidence.

"I'm not upset," Olivia very obviously lied, fooling no one.

"What's their problem, anyway?" Erica asked, out of the loop.

"Scott has a problem with minding his own business sometimes," Derek told her. "He and his sidekick are taking it out on Olivia."

_Stiles is not a sidekick_, Olivia thought bitterly, though she didn't speak up.

"Well, I guess they'll be a problem when you bite Boyd tomorrow," Erica frowned.

Olivia raised her eyebrows at the new information and looked over at Derek. "You're biting Boyd? Vernon Boyd?"

Derek nodded, looking sheepish. "Yeah, Isaac and Erica are friends with him. They said he's interested."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Olivia asked, confused.

"Because I know that Stiles and Scott are giving you a hard time," Derek reasoned with her. "and I know that you're actually friends with them."

Olivia pursed her lips and muttered bitterly, "They're not my friends."

It was clear that no one at the table believed her; Isaac even rolled his eyes.

Olivia gasped as her body started to tingle again; the feeling was pretty much familiar to her now, but it always caught her off guard when it happened. A weird sensation, like something was trying to crawl up her throat, made her flinch and then she heard whispering.

_Lydia. Lydia. Lydia. _

"Lydia," she breathed, blinking rapidly.

She ignored the looks of shock she was getting from Derek, Erica, and Isaac, and stood up, grabbing her phone from the charger in the kitchen. She hurriedly dialed Allison's number, knowing that Stiles and Scott probably wouldn't pick up, and waited for her friend to answer.

"Hello?" Allison answered, sounding stressed; Olivia could hear sobbing in the background. "Liv?"

"Is Lydia okay?" she asked quickly "Is she hurt? What happened?"

"How did you—" Allison paused for a second, bewildered, and continued, "She's safe but she started freaking out. She said she saw something in the ice."

"She saw something in the ice?" Olivia repeated, confused. "Okay, can you just bring her home, please?"

"Yeah," Allison agreed immediately. "Liv…how did you know something happened?"

Olivia frowned. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I don't know."

Olivia and Allison quickly ended their call and she turned back to see that Derek had followed her into the kitchen.

"Lydia was freaking out," she explained, setting her phone back on the counter. "Allison's bringing her back here, so I think you guys should leave."

"Sure," Derek nodded. "But, Ollie…"

"Yeah?"

"When you said Lydia's name, your eyes turned purple."

Stiles quickly walked into the cafeteria, on a mission to find Scott.

All day he felt like there was something missing and most of that, he knew it was mostly because Olivia hadn't shown up at school, but there was also the fact Boyd was absent too. Boyd, who hadn't missed a day of school since the third grade other than the week he was gone for his little sister's funeral in middle school.

He just knew that it had something to do with Derek; Boyd was a loner just like Erica and Isaac and the two of them happened to be his best friends. It couldn't be just a coincidence that he happened to be absent from school the day after Erica turned into a werewolf.

He rushed toward Scott, dodging Allison who was walking away from him, and slid into the seat next to him.

"Scott, do you see that?" he pointed to Boyd's empty table.

"What?" Scott shrugged. "It's an empty table."

"Yeah, but whose empty table?" Stiles prompted; a look of realization came over Scott's face. "Yeah, it's Boyd's."

"Shit," Scott cursed, standing from his seat.

He and Stiles rushed out of the cafeteria, intending to find Boyd to discourage him from taking the bite.

"I'm going to the ice rink to see if he's there," Scott informed Stiles. "You go to his house. If he's not at home, call me, okay?"

Stiles hesitated, thinking it through. What exactly could they do to stop Boyd from taking the bite if he really wanted it? Maybe it wasn't really their business…maybe Olivia was right.

Scott saw his indecisive face. "What?"

"Maybe we should let him," Stiles told Scott. "Boyd, you know? You _and_ Olivia said Derek's giving them a choice, right?"

Scott shook his head and slapped Stiles' shoulder. "We can't."

"You gotta admit, Erica looks pretty good," Stiles continued. "You know, the word '_sensational'_ comes to mind."

"Yeah? How good do you think she's gonna look with a wolfsbane bullet in her head?" Scott pointed out.

"All right," Stiles conceded. "all I'm saying is maybe this one isn't totally your responsibility."

"They all are," Scott disagreed. "and you know this thing's gonna get out of control. That makes me responsible."

"All right, I'm with you," Stiles gave him a supportive smile. "And I also gotta say, this new-found heroism is making me very attracted to you."

Scott rolled his eyes at the playful smirk on Stiles' face. "Shut up."

"No, seriously," Stiles chuckled. "do you wanna just try making out for a second? Just to see how it feels?"

It was only twenty minutes later that Stiles pulled up to Boyd's house after dropping Scott off at the skating rink. He ran out of his Jeep and bounded up to the house, knocking rapidly on the door.

"Hey, Boyd?" he called, tapping his knuckles against the flaking paint. "Hey, Boyd, it's Stiles!"

When there was no answer, he bent over, peeking into the window right next to the door. Unfortunately, curtains were blocking any view that he was hoping for. He sighed and knocked on the door again before turning around, gasping when he ran into Erica.

"Wow!" he gasped, taking a step back.

Erica giggled, both of her hands behind her back. "What are you doing here, Stiles?"

"Uh, n-nothing," Stiles stammered nervously. "I was just looking for, um…"

"Boyd?" Erica supplied, smirking.

"Yeah," Stiles nodded jerkily, making sure to keep his eyes on hers. "Yes. Boyd."

"You know what you're doing right now that's kind of funny?" Erica grinned. "You're only looking in my eyes."

Stiles rubbed the back of his neck. "That's funny?"

"Well, yeah," she giggled. "because it's the kind of look where you're trying not to look anywhere other than my eyes."

Stiles had to admit that she was right, but it was kind of hard not to be attracted to a nice pair of boobs. Erica just happened to have nice boobs that were practically popping out of her jacket.

"But you want to look, don't you?" Erica went on. "You want a nice, long, hard look."

"Not really, no," Stiles said stubbornly, continuing to look at her chocolate-brown eyes.

"Oh, so it's just my eyes?"

"Yes, you have beautiful eyes."

"I have beautiful _everything_."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "And a new-found self-confidence," he snarked. "Congratulations, Erica. I should get going."

He went to walk around Erica but she stopped him, pressing her hand forcefully against his chest.

"You're not going anywhere," she said harshly.

Stiles winced. "Why not?"

Erica grinned and held up the other hand she had been holding behind her back. In it, was something that looked suspiciously like the starter in his Jeep.

"You're having car trouble."

Stiles didn't react in time when she thrust the starter at his face. It slammed against his cheekbone and he dropped to the ground, falling unconscious.

When he woke up hours later, it was to the voice of an angel.

_Scott. Isaac. Erica. Stiles. Stiles. Stiles. _

Olivia's whole body tingled as she walked down Baker Street, following her gut. She was looking for something—no, someone—but she didn't know exactly who they were. The whispering in her head that was driving her crazy was trying to give her an answer.

_Scott. Isaac. Erica. Stiles. Stiles. Stiles._

Olivia was exhausted; after Lydia got home from the ice rink, she had been a mess and needed comforting all night. That was fine with Olivia, she was very worried about her cousin and wanted to stay with her to make sure she was feeling all right. She even stayed when Lydia eventually fell asleep, keeping watch to make sure she had no nightmares.

When the sun rose and Lydia went to school, Olivia stayed home. After what Derek told her about her eyes the night before, she was freaked out. She wanted to know what was happening to her, so she skipped school to research what Google had to say about purple eyes and tingling bodies.

There wasn't much, so Olivia fell asleep around lunch time. She woke up four hours later, feeling like she was laying on a vibrating massage table. That was when the whispering started and she felt like taking a walk.

It as like she was on autopilot as she made her way through Beacon Hills. It wasn't until she saw Stiles' Jeep that she realized she was looking for him.

"Stiles?" she called, looking around the area that the Jeep was parked in. "Stiles, are you there?"

It was quiet—except for her own voice calling Stiles' name—for a minute or so as she continued searching until she heard groaning coming from the dumpster across the road. She whipped around and saw some of the garbage moving, so she started walking over to it.

"Stiles, is that you?" she asked loudly. "Stiles, are you there?"

There was another groan and then, "Livvy?"

Only Stiles would call her by that stupid nickname. She quickened her pace and stood on her tiptoes so she could see into the dumpster. Stiles laid in the pile of garbage, a red mark of the side of his face.

"Stiles, oh, my God, are you okay?" she gasped; he grunted. "What happened to you?"

"Erica, that bitch," he spat, slowly sitting up. "She tore out my starter and decked me with it."

"Erica?!" Olivia exclaimed in surprise; what had she missed while she was sleeping? She grabbed Stiles' hand and helped him jump out of the dumpster. "What'd she do that for?"

"Ugh," Stiles groaned, rubbing his cheek; Olivia gave him a sympathetic look and wrinkled her nose from the horrid smell coming from him. "She's psychotic, that's why."

"Should I call an ambulance?" Olivia asked worriedly, reaching up to rub her thumb over the red mark on his cheek; Stiles froze, looking at her with wide eyes. "You might have a concussion."

"N-No, uh, I-I think I'm fine," Stiles stammered and Olivia's cheeks flushed as she realized what she was doing. "Uh, what are you doing here?"

Olivia pulled her hand away from Stiles' face and shoved them into her coat pockets. "Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "I woke up and felt the need to come here. I didn't know why; I just heard your name in my head."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows. "You heard my name?"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah and Scott's, Isaac's, and Erica's," she told him, biting the inside of her cheek. "It's…something's been going on with me lately."

"Is that what happened last night?" he asked, remembering Allison's bewildered face when she said that you knew that Lydia was freaking out. "When Lydia was upset?"

"Yeah. Derek said my eyes were purple," Olivia inhaled sharply, her eyes starting to sting. "Um, do you want to share an Uber? I don't know much about cars, but I'm pretty sure you need a starter for it to run."

"That's fine," Stiles saw her eyes start to water and he felt his chest tighten. "Are you okay?"

"Um," Olivia pressed her fingers against her forehead, trying to stop the tears building up in her eyes—it wasn't working. "Yeah, I'm just freaking out, honestly. This whole thing is stressing me out, you're mad at me, I think something weird is going on with Lydia…"

Stiles frowned and reached for her, pulling her into a tight hug. Olivia didn't care about the smell of garbage coming off of him as she took his comfort, basking in the warmth his body provided. There was something so comforting about being in Stiles' arms, she realized. She felt safe in them, like nothing could ever hurt her.

"I'm sorry," she cried into his chest, her tears finally falling. "I'm sorry for not telling you about Erica and Isaac."

"It's okay," he cooed, pressing his uninjured cheek against the puff on her winter hat. "we were both being stupid. It was their choice, anyway. It's none of my business."

"I hate when you're mad at me," Olivia admitted, pulling away from the hug to wipe her tears and look Stiles in the eyes. "I don't know why, though, because usually I couldn't give a fuck if someone was mad at me."

Stiles grinned, remembering what Lydia said about her feeling lost. He felt the exact way without her and he loved that she was beginning to think of him like that.

"It's because you like me," Stiles teased her, nudging her shoulder.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You ruined the moment," she stated flatly. "and you smell like garbage."

"Handsome garbage?"

"Seriously, Stiles?"


	16. The Kanima

**[2x04; Abomination]**

Stiles gritted his teeth, becoming increasingly annoyed as he listened to the whirling of whatever drill the mechanic was using. He'd been at the garage for two hours already and he was only supposed to be getting a starter. The mechanic had started installing it an hour and a half ago, so clearly something else was going on.

Stiles stomped out of the waiting area and into the garage, heading over to his Jeep, which was ten feet in the freaking air. As far as Stiles knew, the use of a jack wasn't needed to install a starter.

"Hey!" he called to the mechanic. "What do you think you're doing? All I needed was a starter."

The mechanic, a greasy-looking guy only a few years older than Stiles, didn't even bother to look at him.

"Yeah," he shrugged, continuing to tighten bolts on the Jeep. "but it looks like your whole exhaust system has got to be replaced here."

Stiles looked up at the bottom of his Jeep and scowled, seeing that the mechanic wasn't tightening bolts like he thought. He was actually loosening them to take down the exhaust system that looked fine to Stiles.

"Why do I get the feeling you're slightly over-estimating the damage?" Stiles scowled.

"It's probably gonna run you around, like, twelve hundred for parts and labor," the mechanic added.

"Are you kidding?" Stiles exclaimed angrily. "This thing doesn't even have a catalytic converter! And, yes, I know what a catalytic converter is."

The mechanic lowered his tool and turned to Stiles. "Do you know what a limited slip differential is?"

Stiles hesitated, wracking his brain for information, but eventually sighed. "No."

As soon as he admitted that, he regretted it. Hadn't his dad always told him not to admit low knowledge of vehicles to mechanics? They liked to prey on people who didn't know how to fix their own cars.

The mechanic proved his dad right. He turned back to the Jeep and said, "Yeah, it's coming on more like fifteen hundred."

"Okay, just finish," Stiles sighed, aggravated. He left his Jeep and started walking back to the waiting area. "I'll be back here, seething with impotent rage!"

As Stiles reached for the door connected to the waiting room, he found that the knob was covered in sticky goo. He grunted in disgust and wiped the goo off his hand.

"Oh, nice! That's real sanitary," he muttered angrily before raising his voice so the mechanic could hear. "Quality establishment you're running here!"

He opened the door and walked into the waiting room, rubbing off more goo that had gotten onto his hand. He went to sit down in one of the chairs to wait once again, but a framed photo on the wall caught his eye. Upon further examination, he saw that it was the mechanic wearing a lacrosse uniform.

_Figures, _he scoffed to himself_, the dick seems like he and Jackson would be best friends. _

Stiles moved on, walking over to the windows so he could see what the mechanic was doing to his precious Jeep. He pulled out his phone, preparing to text Scott to see how he was doing after his run-in with Derek the day before, but his fingers started cramping.

He grunted softly, trying to get his fingers to move, but they wouldn't. A numbing sensation was starting in his hands then and it wasn't long until his phone fell to the floor.

Panic pumped through Stiles' veins as more of his body seemed to go numb and his brain raced with possible explanations to why this was happening. As he started to lose feeling in his arms, he looked out the window to call to the mechanic for help.

Instead of calling for help, Stiles gasped when he saw something crawling around his Jeep. It looked like a disfigured lizard the size of a human being—just like Scott had described the lizard-thing in Isaac's house on the night of the full moon.

_Damn it, _he thought_, this lizard-thing couldn't be here just to say hello. _

"Hey," Stiles tried to yell at the mechanic to get his attention and warn him about the lizard. Unfortunately, his vocal cords seemed to be going numb. "Hey!"

The mechanic didn't hear him but the lizard took its opportunity to attack. It swiped its clear claws at the mechanic, slashing the back of his neck. The mechanic whipped around to see what had attacked him and Stiles saw that the lizard had left a straight cut at the top of his spine.

The mechanic fell to the ground below the Jeep and Stiles' lost feeling in his legs; he fell to the carpet, almost completely paralyzed.

Stiles inhaled sharply, trying to gather his wits. If both he and the mechanic were struggling to move, it probably had something to do with the lizard-thing. The goo he touched was some kind of secretion that was in the lizard's claws. But, since the venom wasn't in Stiles' bloodstream, it wasn't effecting him like it was the mechanic.

He gathered what strength he had left in his body and pulled himself across the carpet, trying to get to his fallen phone. Slowly, he inched himself closer to the phone, listening to the pleading of the mechanic and the whirling of something.

When Stiles got to his phone, which was near the glass door, he could see what the whirling was. The hydraulics on the jack seemed to have failed, and the Jeep was slowly lowering. The mechanic was paralyzed underneath the Jeep, watching as it got closer and closer to him.

Stiles struggled to reach out, his hands shaking severely, but managed to flip his phone over. He started to dial nine-one-one, his eyes on the panicked mechanic the whole time.

"Help!" the mechanic cried shakily. "Help me."

Stiles wished he could but there was no way his body would cooperate enough to get to the mechanic on time. The realization that this guy was going to die hit Stiles like a train and he squeezed his eyes shut as the Jeep landed on the mechanic and blood spurted everywhere.

He opened his eyes again when the jack stopped with a clang, his stomach rolling at the amount of blood on the garage floor where the mechanic's body had been. Stiles breathed deeply, trying to get his nausea to go away, and jumped when the lizard popped up in front of the lobby door.

The lizard roared at him, though it sounded more like a screech, and then scurried away.

Just as Stiles thought there was something familiar about the lizard, the emergency operator finally answered his call.

"_9-1-1, what's your emergency?"_

Across town, Olivia Martin woke from a deep sleep, breathing heavily.

"I told you," Stiles repeated himself, his eyes on the shiny pavement below him. "I just—I walked in and I saw the Jeep on top of the guy. That's all."

He made sure not to make eye contact with his dad, who was sitting with him at the back of an ambulance. He felt horrible having to lie about the mechanic to his dad but what he saw was making him more than a little jumpy.

His hands trembled, both from his nerves and from the leftover paralysis.

Noah noticed. "What's wrong with your hands?" he asked as Stiles curled them into fists.

Stiles shook his hands out. "Nothing," he said sharply, looking through the rain at the various police officers and paramedics. "Can I just get out of here now?"

"Look," Noah started softly and Stiles could hear the pity in his voice. "if there's something you don't think you can tell me—"

Stiles cut him off. "You think I'm lying?"

"No," Noah shook his head adamantly. "of course not. I'm just worried about you," he said sincerely. "Now, if you saw someone do this and you're afraid that maybe they're gonna come back and make sure you don't say anything about it—"

"I didn't see anything," Stiles lied, shaking his head. Images of the mechanic lying helplessly under the Jeep flashed through his mind and he could still hear his pleads for help. "At all. Can I go now, please?"

Noah hesitantly nodded. "Sure," he agreed. "but not in your Jeep. We're gonna have to impound it."

"Dad!"

"Sorry, kid," Noah placed a comforting hand on Stiles' shoulder as he stood up. "Evidence. I'll see you at home."

Stiles huffed and, as Noah walked away, he called, "All right, well, at least make sure they wash it!"

Twenty minutes later, after Stiles had called him for a ride, Scott drove up to the garage. The rain had finally stopped, so Stiles was soaked through when he jogged over to Melissa's car and slid into the passenger seat.

Scott gave him a sympathetic look. "You okay?"

"Yeah. You were right," Stiles told Scott, pressing his lips together. "It's not like you. I mean, its eyes were almost, like, reptilian," he recalled. "but there was something about them."

Scott raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"You know when you see a friend in a Halloween mask but all you can actually see are their eyes and you feel like you know them but just can't figure out who it is?" Stiles looked over at Scott, seeing the werewolf stiffen.

"Are you saying you know who it is?" Scott asked quickly.

"No," Stiles said firmly. "but I think it knew me."

The ringing of Stiles' phone cut through the tense atmosphere his statement had created. Stiles let Scott think about what he said and pulled his phone from his sweatshirt, seeing that it was Olivia calling him.

He answered her call but he wasn't able to greet her before she was talking his ear off.

"_Stiles, are you okay?"_ she said rapidly. _"I felt weird and I woke up and I needed to talk to you. What happened? Are you okay?"_

"Livvy, hey," Stiles greeted her as Scott started the car and pulled away from the garage. "I'm okay."

"_You don't sound okay_," Olivia observed and Stiles was surprised she could hear the anxiety and fear that was hidden in his voice. "_Tell me what happened."_

Stiles sighed, wiping a hand down his face, and began to tell her about his night.

Olivia sighed, holding Sirius still as he squirmed all over her lap, and tried to adjust his collar. Sirius was growing steadily and he finally needed a bigger collar. Unfortunately, that meant that he was restless without the familiar weight around his neck and was acting out when Olivia tried to clip the new one around him.

"Siri, really?" she complained as she fumbled with the clip. "I know you don't like being naked but work with me here."

Sirius didn't work with her and he continued to squirm but Olivia was finally able to clip his collar in place. She huffed as her puppy happily jumped off her lap and ran into the kitchen where Natalie was making her morning coffee.

"Liv," Natalie turned to her as she entered the kitchen. "Can you wake up Lydia before Derek gets here? She's going to be late for her appointment with the school counselor."

"Sure thing, Aunt Nat," Olivia smiled and turned back out of the kitchen.

Olivia climbed up the stairs and went down the hallway, passing her room to get to Lydia's. She was surprised that her cousin wasn't already dressed and downstairs, ready for another day at school. Olivia was always ready before Lydia, but Lydia was always up by six.

Olivia glanced at the clock on her phone, noting the time. _6:20_.

She knocked on Lydia's door and let herself in, sighing when she saw that Lydia was still in bed, wrapped up like a burrito in her comforter.

"Time to get up, Lyds," she announced, ignoring Lydia's sleepy moan of irritation. "You're late."

"Go away," Lydia grunted, shifting under her covers.

"Aunt Nat said to get you're gonna be late to meet with Miss Morrell," Olivia reminded her, making her way to her bed.

With everything that had been happening to Lydia—being bitten by Peter, having episodes where she screamed and cried out of nowhere, and attitude toward Natalie and Thomas—her parents had decided that Lydia either went to counseling sessions with Miss Morrell, or her car keys were being taken away. Lydia was not at all happy with the ultimatum her parents were giving her, but she decided that she wanted to keep her freedom.

Lydia groaned in distaste and Olivia sighed.

"You made the deal with them, remember?"

"And I told them I was fine, _remember_?" Lydia retorted.

Olivia rolled her eyes, knowing that her cousin was far from fine. She had been watching Lydia since her episode at the ice rink and nothing was fine. Lydia was constantly flinching and there were brief periods where she was out of it. Olivia didn't know what Peter's bite had done to her, but it wasn't anything good.

"Oh, please," Olivia grabbed Lydia's comforter and pulled it down. She gasped loudly when she saw a large amount of blood staining the white fabric. "What the hell?"

Lydia sat up, bewildered by Olivia's response, and that was when Olivia saw that Lydia's hands were covered in blood and her knuckles were cut up. Olivia pulled a confused-looking Lydia to her and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug.

Natalie, seemingly having heard Olivia's exclamation, rushed into the room. She gasped when she saw the bloody mess of Lydia's bed and rushed toward her girls.

"Oh, my God," she held up Lydia's hands, tears coming to her eyes. "What did you do to yourself?"

Lydia didn't answer, her eyes stuck to the opposite side of the room. Olivia and Natalie followed her gaze and saw that her vanity mirror was shattered and blood was smeared around the middle.

"Lydia, sweetheart," Natalie looked back at Lydia. "Why did you do that?"

Olivia squeezed Lydia tightly as she started to whimper. As she rested her chin on Lydia's red hair, she was starting to think that something more was going on with her cousin than she knew.

When Derek had gotten to her house ten minutes after Natalie helped Lydia into the shower, Olivia spilled everything about what had been going on. She told him about her finding Stiles in the dumpster—and scolded him for injuring Scott and letting Erica hurt Stiles—Stiles seeing a lizard-creature at the auto-shop where it killed the mechanic, and how Lydia had punched her mirror in her sleep.

It was worrying her how everything was going to shit. Her confusion about what was happening to her was miniscule compared to how worried she was about Lydia, Stiles, and the situation with the lizard and the Argent family. It seemed like too much at once and she was struggling to keep up.

Derek was bewildered about Lydia, having never heard of the bite effecting someone in that way, and irritated about Olivia scolding him for Scott and Stiles. He was definitely worried about the lizard-thing situation—because they had no idea what it was and how it had killed another person—but he did have some news about Olivia's predicament.

"I did some research," he told her as he pulled up to the abandoned train yard. "and it sounds like purple eyes are pretty rare."

Olivia huffed, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Great."

"Don't worry," Derek consoled her. "I'm going to look for our bestiary to see if there's anything in there."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows as they got out of the Camaro and walked into the station where Boyd, Isaac, and Erica would be waiting for them. "I thought you said you couldn't find it."

"I checked the vault and it wasn't there. Maybe it's at the house."

"Then it was probably destroyed."

Derek shrugged. "We'll see."

The abandoned train station that Derek and Isaac were currently living was always dark, despite the sunny days that were common in California. There was always water dripping from somewhere and there was a musky smell in the air that made Olivia's allergies go wild. Although she knew that Derek and Isaac couldn't stay in her pool house, Olivia wished that her cousin would just buy a house or condo to live in. The station was no place for anyone to live, let alone a teenager.

But, then again, Isaac was currently hiding from police and they were both hiding from the Argent family.

Boyd, Isaac, and Erica were already warming up for their training when Olivia and Derek walked down the stairs that led to the main area where Derek and Isaac lived. Vernon Boyd was the newest pack member and Olivia didn't know much about him, but she had managed to talk to him at school a couple of times. He was shy and built like a giant but he seemed really gentle and sweet.

Once they arrived, Derek immediately set to work, training Isaac and Erica. Boyd sat on the sidelines with Olivia, waiting his turn, and they made small talk, commenting on what they thought the others were doing wrong as they tried to attack Derek.

Derek would stand still on the opposite side of the room as Isaac and Erica ran toward them, trying to take him down. They had been at it for almost an hour and had used different combinations of tactics to catch Derek off guard. Derek had hardly moved a muscle, yet Isaac and Erica failed every single time.

Isaac crossed the room again, flipping over various obstacles and jumping on a column before lunging at Derek. Derek simply shoved him to the ground like he had been doing and when Erica jumped off the top of the train to get him, he threw her down, too.

Olivia and Boyd gave each other looks of amusement; they had both predicted that Isaac and Erica would fail again.

"Does anyone wanna try not being completely predictable?" Derek asked loudly, his tone very annoyed.

Out of nowhere, Erica crawled to her feet and jumped on Derek, wrapping her legs around his waist. She planted her lips on his and rolled her hips into his as they made out. Olivia, Boyd, and Isaac looked at them in shock and disgust, feeling uncomfortable with what was going on.

Derek abruptly threw Erica off of him and wiped his mouth. "That's the last time you do that."

"Why?" Erica asked scornfully. "because I'm a beta?"

_No, _Olivia mentally disagreed_, it's because you're a minor, girl. _

"No," Derek shook his head and gave Olivia a brief look that she couldn't decipher; he turned back to Erica. "because I have someone else in mind for you."

Olivia wondered what he meant by that and why had he looked at her first? Who did she and Erica have in common?

"Are we done?" Isaac spoke up as Erica gave Derek a confused look. "I got about a hundred bones that need a few hours to heal."

Derek cocked his head in sympathy and Olivia was instantly suspicious. Derek wasn't that guy who babied you when you were hurt—unless it was her or Cora when they were kids.

"Come here," Derek crouched down in front of Isaac and grabbed his arm. With one slick twist, Isaac's arm was snapped and he was crying out in pain. "A hundred and one."

"Derek," Olivia warned, giving her cousin a hard look. Isaac was a victim of abuse and while Derek did need to train them, he could do that without being sadistic and violent.

Derek rolled his eyes at her and looked back at his betas. "You think I'm teaching you how to fight, huh?" he asked them harshly, watching at their eyes were on anything but him. "Look at me! I'm teaching you how to survive."

Derek paced away from Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, leaving them to watch him fearfully.

"If they wanted us dead, why aren't they coming for us now?" Isaac asked Derek, eyes wide with fear and anger. "What are they waiting for?"

"I don't know but they're planning something," Derek admitted, turning back to Isaac. "and you, especially, know that's not our only problem."

He waved over to Olivia and she sighed when all eyes went to her.

"The thing that killed Isaac's father killed someone else last night," she told Isaac, Erica, and Boyd. "And we don't know what it is."

"So," Derek spoke up again. "until we do know, you all need to learn everything that I know. As fast as I can teach you."

"I'm so sorry about the other day," Stiles said, looking into Scott's eyes. "I'm trying. We'll get through this. I know because I love you. I love you more than—"

"Uh, did I just walk into something personal?"

Stiles and Scott jumped at the interruption and whipped around to see Olivia. She stood at the bottom of the staircase they were sitting on, clutching her chemistry textbook to her chest. Behind the book, Stiles could see the _Star Wars_ t-shirt she had on and he could have sworn that he was dreaming because there was no way he was lucky enough that his dream girl liked his favorite movies, too.

Stiles, grimaced, pulling himself together, and shook his head. "No, no, no, I'm not confessing my love for Scott or anything," he assured her and turned back to Scott. "You and Allison just have to find a better way to communicate."

"Come on, you're the only one we can trust," Scott gave Stiles sad eyes before looking over at Olivia. "No offense, or anything. I mean, I'm pretty sure her parents aren't happy about her being friends with you."

"They're not," Olivia nodded. "so we message each other on Instagram."

"You have an Instagram?" Stiles asked her, wide-eyed.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him while Scott snapped his fingers at him to get his attention.

"Focus," Scott scolded him. "Is she coming to the game tonight?"

"Yes, okay?" Stiles scowled. "Message complete. Now, tell me about your boss."

Olivia didn't know whether to stay or go—she liked Stiles and Scott and she was pretty sure Scott wasn't mad at her anymore but she wasn't sure they wanted her to hear them talk about their pack business. Scott didn't seem to mind, though, because he didn't wait for her to walk away before he told Stiles about Dr. Deaton.

"He thinks that Allison's family keeps some kind of record of all the things that they've hunted," he said quickly. "Like a book or something."

_That sounded familiar,_ Olivia thought.

"I think he's talking about a bestiary," Olivia spoke up, tapping her manicured nails against the cover of her textbook.

Scott gave her a confused look. "A what?"

"A bestiary," Olivia repeated herself, looking between Scott and Stiles, who had a look of realization on his face.

Scott snickered. "I think you mean bestiality."

Olivia wrinkled her nose in disgust while Stiles rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure she doesn't," Stiles said flatly. "A bestiary is like an encyclopedia of mythical creatures."

Scott's mouth dropped and he stiffened, looking incredulous. "How am I the only one who doesn't know anything about this stuff?"

"Because you never bothered to do research?" Olivia guessed, causing Scott and Stiles to give her annoyed looks.

"Okay," Stiles turned back to Scott. "you're my best friend and you're a creature of the night. It's kind of like a priority of mine."

"Okay," Scott nodded, trying to come up with a plan. "If we can find it and it can tell us what this thing it—"

"And who," Stiles added.

"We need that book," Olivia finished, thinking it over. The chances of Derek finding the Hale bestiary were slim to none, especially if it was in the fire. Getting the Argents' bestiary may be their best chance to finding out what the lizard was and how they could stop it.

_Maybe I can talk to Derek and get him to work with Scott. _

Scott and Stiles nodded in agreement.

"I'll go talk to Allison," Stiles jumped off the stairs and started running down the hallway.

In Stiles' absence, Scott and Olivia stared awkwardly at each other. Finally, Olivia spoke up, gesturing down the hall, "I'm going to my locker…so, uh, yeah. Bye."

She was halfway down the hall when Scott caught up to her.

"Wait," he said, falling in next to her. "Just so you know, I'm not mad at you."

"Oh," Olivia smiled slightly; she was glad that Scott wasn't mad because she genuinely wanted to be his friend. She hadn't wanted to at the beginning of this whole mess but she somehow ended up caring about him. "Thanks."

"Well, Derek's your family," Scott shrugged as they continued walking to Olivia's locker. "It was kind of a given that you're in his pack."

"Exactly," Olivia nodded. "And just because I'm in his pack doesn't mean that I can't be friends with you and Stiles."

"Right," Scott agreed. "So, how did you know about the bestiary?"

When they came upon her locker, Olivia spun in her combination and opened it. "The Hales have a bestiary," she told Scott as she put her textbook in her locker. "Right now, we don't know where it is. Derek's looking for it but I think it was lost in the fire."

"Damn," Scott frowned. "That would have been helpful."

Olivia nodded. "You're telling me."

Across campus, Stiles approached Allison where she was reading a book outside. He quickly explained what he, Olivia, and Scott had figured out and asked her if she had seen the family bestiary.

Allison giggled. "I think you mean—"

"No, I mean bestiary," Stiles interrupted her. "and the two of you, I don't want to know what's going on in your heads."

"Okay, um," Allison cleared her throat, pulling herself together. "can you describe this thing?"

"Uh, it's probably like a book. Old, worn…"

"Like bound in leather?" Allison asked thoughtfully.

Five minutes later, Stiles was running through the school, trying to find Scott and Olivia. When he finally spotted them next to Olivia's locker, talking about something he couldn't hear, he quickly approached them.

"Yes," he told them, breathing heavily. "She's seen her grandfather with a book like that."

"Well, where does he keep it?" Scott asked him.

Stiles shrugged. "How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

"Go ask her," Olivia suggested, giving him an innocent smile.

Stiles grunted in annoyance and took off, running back to Allison. After he asked her about the book's whereabouts, he went back to Scott and Olivia.

"She says—has to be—office—" Stiles panted, collapsing against the locker next to Olivia's. Olivia clicked her tongue and pulled a tissue out of her purse before dabbing his forehead.

Stiles couldn't even appreciate how caring she was being because Scott asked another question.

"Can she get the book?"

Stiles sighed heavily and grabbed Scott's backpack, opening up the pocket where he kept his no-longer-needed inhaler. He grabbed it and squeezed it into his mouth, breathing in the medicine, before going back to Allison.

"You know, drug dealers have been using disposable cellphones pretty successfully for years," he told her breathlessly, taking another hit from the inhaler.

Allison shook her head. "My parents check ever call, email, and text message I send," she explained. "Trust me, they'd find it."

"All right," he sighed and repeated Scott's question, "Can you get the book?"

Allison blinked thoughtfully. "Not without his keys…"

Olivia winced from her spot next to Boyd and Erica on the bleachers, watching as Number #42 on the opposing team tackled and injured yet another Cyclone. The referees did nothing about what was clearly excessive tackling and the home crowd was furious.

"Come on," Coach shouted loudly from the player's bench. "is that thing even a teenager? I wanna see a birth certificate!"

"I'm pretty sure that's the Abomination," Erica spoke up, shaking her head.

Olivia and Boyd gave her confused looks.

"What?" Olivia asked, looking back at the field. "They call that guy the Abomination?"

"Yeah, my cousin goes to that school," Erica informed her. "Apparently, he's been held back a few times."

"So has Greenberg but he's not that big," Boyd muttered, shaking his head. Both Olivia and Erica chuckled at Boyd's comment, making him smile.

Up ahead, Olivia's eyes landed on Stiles. He was braving the cold in a warm-up suit, likely because he expected that he wouldn't be playing, and had turned around to get her attention. She nodded slightly, not making a sound so she wouldn't get her companions' attention, and Stiles gestured to the other end of the bleachers with his head.

Olivia nodded back in understanding; Allison was ready with the keys.

After Stiles had come back from Allison the last time, he, Scott, and Olivia formed a plan to get Gerard's keys. Once it was decided that Allison would get them from Gerard and then hand them off to Stiles and Olivia, Olivia had sent Allison a message through their Instagram, which was promptly deleted from both party's accounts so Allison's parents wouldn't find it.

Apparently the plan had gone fine so far because now it was Olivia and Stiles' turn.

"I'm gonna go to the concession stand," she told Erica and Boyd, getting their attention. "Do you guys want anything?"

"We're good," Erica smiled. "Thanks."

"Okay," Olivia stood up. "Be right back."

She climbed down the bleachers, weaving her way through families watching the game, and hopped onto the ground. After seeing that Stiles had already left the player's bench, she walked around the bleachers and wasn't surprised to see Stiles waiting for her.

"Do you have them?" Olivia whispered as she walked over to him.

Stiles grinned and pulled the keys out of his pocket, twirling them around his index finger. "I'm James fucking Bond, baby!"

Olivia rolled her eyes and started walking to the school, not waiting for him. "If you're James Bond, I'm Black Widow."

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he caught up with her. "But you didn't do anything."

"Exactly," Olivia smirked at him as they entered the parking lot. She ignored Stiles' annoyed look and stopped when she saw Lydia's car parked a few rows ahead of her. "What the…?"

Lydia had told her that she wasn't going to the game tonight because seeing Jackson was going to be too hard. Olivia had protested, wanting her to come, but she was adamant about staying home.

So, what was she doing here?

"Livvy, what the hell are you doing?" Stiles hissed at her as she started walking over to Lydia's car.

Olivia waved him off when she heard Lydia crying. She was surprised; Lydia hardly cried in public since they were in elementary school. Usually she'd wait until she was behind closed doors and safe with Olivia.

Stiles scoffed and followed her, hovering a few feet away as she knocked on Lydia's door.

"Lyds, what's wrong?" Olivia asked her cousin, concerned; Lydia scoffed and rolled up her window but Olivia just knocked again. "Lydia, come on."

"Just go away!"

"What's wrong?"

"Look, I don't need you to see me cry," Lydia snapped, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue.

"Lydia, I've seen you cry before," Olivia pointed out. "and I don't care if I'm the only one who has, okay? So, if you think it's a burden to listen to you vent, you're wrong."

Lydia sniffed. "why?"

"Because you're my sister and I'd do anything for you."

Lydia sighed and rolled down her window so she and Olivia could talk easier. "You're gonna think I'm crazy."

"Trust me, Lyds," Olivia reached into the car and grabbed Lydia's glove-covered hand. "I don't think you're crazy, okay? There is nothing you could do or say that would make me think that."

Loud cheering from the crowd echoed through the parking lot but Olivia ignored it, focusing on her cousin. Stiles, however, couldn't ignore it.

"Hey, hi, sorry to interrupt," he piped in, waving over at Olivia and Lydia. "but we have to go…Livvy?"

Olivia shot him a pointed glare.

"Look," Stiles spoke to Lydia now, ignoring the exasperated look on her face. "can you just give us five minutes? Just stay here, continue crying—or not crying—" he said quickly, seeing Olivia glower at him. "whatever works for you. Just stay here and we'll be right back and then you guys can talk."

"Stiles, just go," Olivia told him. She saw his anxious look and reassured him, "I'll catch up to you, okay? Just call me if you need me."

Stiles quickly looked from the lacrosse game to the school and then to Olivia. "Fine," he sighed. "hurry up, though."

Olivia nodded and Stiles reluctantly left her, running toward the school. Luckily, the school was already unlocked so the players could use the locker rooms, so it was easy getting to the main office. He used Gerard's keys to unlock the principal's office and started searching through the many shelves and drawers around the room.

He went through a whole bookshelf and a filing cabinet—finding nothing but a broad sword that was displayed on one of the shelves—before going through the desk. Unfortunately, there was nothing in those drawers, either, except pens, paperclips, and a boring dictionary.

"Book, book, book," he muttered absentmindedly to himself as he opened up the last drawer in the desk; it was empty. "Damn it."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and sent a message to Olivia and Allison.

_**Stiles**__: Nothing here. _

A person coming through the door made him jump and yelp in shock but he quickly relaxed when he saw that it was Erica. She smirked at him and giggled.

"Hello, Stiles."

"Erica, hey," he greeted her awkwardly, trying not to give away the reason he had broken into the principal's office. "Whatcha doing?"

Erica grinned at him and quickly lunged around the desk, clamping a firm grip on the back of his neck. She pulled him out of the office and started to lead him down the hall, ignoring his struggles.

"Where are you taking me?" he groaned in pain as they walked through the school. "Why are you doing this? Oh, my God, are you going to kill me? I know you're violent but I didn't think you were a murderer."

Erica rolled her eyes and pushed him into the pool room where Derek was already waiting for them with a basketball in hand.

"Ah, yeah," Stiles grunted in realization as Erica let go of him and stood next to her alpha.

"Stiles."

"_Derek_."

Derek glanced down at the ball in his hand. "What'd you see at the mechanic's garage?"

"Uh," Stiles rubbed the back of his neck. "several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting."

Derek chuckled, as though he had expected Stiles' noncompliance, and let his claws grow from his nail beds. He pierced the basketball and Stiles watched with wide eyes as it deflated.

"Holy fuck," he muttered, knowing a threat when he saw one.

"Let's try that again," Derek suggested.

Stiles rolled his eyes, wishing that Olivia was here to control her irritating cousin. Derek seriously needed a leash.

"All right," he conceded. "the thing was pretty slick-looking. Um, the skin was dark and kind of patterned. Uh, I think I actually saw scales. Is that enough? Can I go?"

Derek gave him a pointed glare; Stiles groaned in annoyance.

"Ugh, fine," he continued. "The eyes were yellowish and slitted. It had a lot of teeth. Oh, and it's got a tail, too. Are we good?"

Stiles saw the look on Erica's face change from intimidating to fearful. Derek's expression was flat but the look in his eyes were determined.

"Wait, have you seen it?" he asked them. "You have this look on your faces like you know exactly what I'm talking about."

There was hissing behind him and he slowly turned around and looked up. Above him, on the staircase, was the lizard-creature, hissing at them. It suddenly screeched and Stiles jumped back so he was next to Derek.

The lizard lunged for them and Derek crouched, growling as his fangs slipped out. Stiles backed away in shock as the lizard threw Erica to the side as though she was a rag doll, immediately knocking her out.

Derek turned and pushed Stiles further out of the way. "Run!"

As Derek was turned away from the lizard, it lashed out and swiped its claws along the back of his neck. He turned back around to face it and Stiles saw the same straight line that the mechanic had before he was paralyzed.

"Derek, your neck!" Stiles warned him.

Derek reached for the back of his neck and started falling; Stiles rushed forward and grabbed him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder. "All right, come on," he pulled Derek into the pathways between the pools, looking around for the lizard. "Where is it? Can you see it?"

"No," Derek denied. "just hurry. Call Scott."

Stiles nodded and went to pull his phone out of his track pants but he dropped it on the concrete. As he bent down to get it, Derek flipped over his back and fell into the pool, rapidly sinking toward the bottom.

Stiles looked between his phone and Derek before jumping into the pool. He swam down a few feet and grabbed Derek around the waist, pulling him back up to the surface; Derek gasped for air while Stiles spit excess water from his mouth.

Stiles kicked his legs to keep him and Derek up while he looked around for the lizard. "Where'd it go? Do you see it?"

Derek looked around the best he could. "No."

"Okay," Stiles breathed, trying to keep them above the surface. "maybe it took off."

As if disagreeing with Stiles, the lizard screeched again.

Derek and Stiles exchanged a look. "Maybe not."

_Stiles. Derek. Erica. _

_Stiles. Derek. Erica. _

Olivia rushed into the school as their names were repeated over and over again in her head. She passed the main office—seeing no signs of Stiles, which worried her—and let her gut guide her around.

She had been finished up her conversation with Lydia about how she was seeing things and having night terrors—which really worried her because Lydia had never been one to have nightmares—when her body started tingling. Lydia had gasped, claiming that her eyes had gone purple and Olivia panicked and fell from the car.

The voices started then and Olivia quickly told Lydia that she'd explain later before running toward the school.

_Stiles. Derek. Erica. _

She couldn't explain it, but she knew something was wrong with them. It was like a gut instinct, like she knew they were in danger. She wasn't even thinking about where she was walking, she just went where the voices grew louder.

Olivia ended up outside of the pool room and when she burst inside, she saw Stiles and Derek swimming.

_I could have sworn they were in danger, _she thought_. _

"Olivia, get out of here!" Stiles shouted at her. "Go, hurry!"

Upon further examination, she saw that Stiles was actually holding Derek up in the water. She caught Stiles and Derek's worried gazes and then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something crawling toward her.

"Look out!"

Olivia turned to the creature full on and saw the lizard that Stiles had told her he'd seen at the auto garage the night before. It was terrifying and more than a little ugly as it sped up, screeching as it ran toward her.

"Shit!" she cursed as she turned to start running.

She tried to run to the doors but as she got closer to escaping, the lizard leaped around her, blocking the exit point. Olivia promptly whipped around and started running toward the pool where Stiles and Derek were floating. Ignoring their warnings, she jumped into the pool to get away from the lizard.

She thanked the school for regulating the temperature of the pool because at least the water wasn't cold. As Olivia broke the surface of the water, she kicked her legs to keep her afloat while shrugging off her coat with difficulty. She threw it on the side of the pool and watched as the lizard retreated from the water, hissing.

"Why is that lizard even here?" Olivia asked after she swam over to Derek and Stiles. She wrapped an arm around Derek's waist and took some of his weight from Stiles.

"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" Stiles snapped at her. He saw Olivia's frown and Derek's glare and sighed. "Sorry. Your cousin's heavy and we've been here for a while."

"It's fine, I know you have a temper," Olivia shrugged.

"I don't have a temper."

"Uh, yes, you do."

"No, I don't!"

"You're getting mad right now."

"Yeah, 'cause you said I have a temper—"

"Will you two shut up?" Derek complained, annoyed at finding himself in the middle of Olivia and Stiles' bickering yet again. "I need you to get me out of here before I drown."

Stiles gave him an incredulous look. "You're worried about drowning?" he asked sharply. "Did you notice the thing out there with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth?"

"Did you notice I'm paralyzed from the neck down in eight feet of _water_?" Derek retorted.

Olivia rolled her eyes, finding it ironic that Derek scolded them for arguing just to start up an argument with Stiles himself. "Both of you shut up," she said as she looked around for the lizard. "I don't even see it."

"Okay," Stiles nodded. "Let's go, then."

Olivia and Stiles started working together as they swam toward the side of the pool with Derek held between them. They were only a couple feet away from the edge when Derek started objecting.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he called. "Stop, stop!"

Olivia and Stiles swam in place as they followed Derek's gaze; the lizard was pacing around the pool and had started walking back around to where they were headed.

Stiles groaned in frustration as the lizard hissed warningly at them. "What's it waiting for?"

The lizard slowly walked to the edge of the pool and cautiously placed one of its hands in the water. It immediately hissed in fear and backed away.

"Did you see that?" Olivia asked Derek and Stiles. "I don't think it can swim."

The realization that the lizard couldn't swim didn't make things much easier. Sure, they'd be safe in the pool from harm but they couldn't keep swimming for long without getting tired and they had no idea when Derek's paralysis was going to wear off. They couldn't do anything until Derek was better or if they somehow found a way to contact Scott.

A half hour passed with Derek still unable to feel his body from the neck down while the lizard paced around the pool, keeping its reptilian eyes on them. Olivia was worn out from swimming in place for so long while keeping Derek above water level and Stiles, who been in the water longer than she had but was more athletic, was just as tired.

"Okay," Stiles spoke up breathlessly. "I don't think I can do this much longer."

He went to take his arm away from Derek but the alpha and his cousin immediately began to protest.

"No, don't even think about it!" Derek warned him.

Stiles gave them dirty looks. "Would you guys just trust me this once?"

"I trust you, Stiles, but if you let go of him, he'll drown," Olivia told him. "I can't hold him up myself."

"I don't trust you," Derek said plainly.

Stiles glared at him. "I'm one of the people keeping you alive!" he argued. "Have you noticed that?"

"Yeah and when the paralysis wears off, who is gonna be able to fight that thing, you or me?" Derek replied scathingly.

"That's why I've been holding you up for the past two hours?"

"Yep," Derek tilted his head as he lowered into the water. "You don't trust me; I don't trust you but you need me to survive, which is why you are not letting me go."

Olivia saw the look of contempt in Stiles' eyes. She knew that he didn't like to be challenged and she understood that but she needed him to keep calm until Derek was able to move. If he left her by herself with Derek, he would drown.

"Wait, Stiles," she spoke up as he went to move. "Help me get Derek to float."

Stiles and Derek gave her confused looks.

"Derek can float on his back and I'll spot him," Olivia explained impatiently. "Stiles, you can go get your phone to call Scott. Sound good?"

Derek and Stiles mumbled their agreements, not looking very happy.

"Stop arguing for two seconds so we can work together, okay?" Olivia gave them stern looks. "Stiles jumped in to save you, Derek. Stiles, Derek's gonna fight that lizard for us. So, if you don't trust each other? That's fine but recognize that you need each other right now."

It seemed that what Olivia said got through to the stubborn boys because their scowls disappeared and they quit arguing. Stiles and Olivia worked together to help Derek lay on his back in the water and, when Olivia stayed close to him so he would drown, Stiles swam to the edge of the pool where he dropped his phone.

The lizard approached Stiles, hissing in warning, but Stiles quickly grabbed the phone from the edge and swam away. He dialed Scott's number as he made his way back to Olivia and Derek.

"Scott!" he yelled when Scott answered the phone.

"_I can't talk right now."_

Stiles gaped at his phone as Scott hung up and looked over at Olivia and Derek with wide eyes.

"Tell me you got him," Derek said as he began to sink.

Olivia grabbed him again to keep him afloat and Stiles swam over, grabbing his other side. Stiles groaned in response and Derek grunted, inferring that Scott wasn't coming to help.

Twenty minutes later, Stiles and Olivia were struggling with keeping Derek's dead weight afloat. Olivia was pretty sure she had swallowed a gallon of pool water and Stiles wasn't faring any better. Derek was no closer to gaining any movement back.

"I can't stay up any longer," Olivia gasped as she kicked her tired legs harder so her mouth was above water. "I need something to hold onto."

Stiles wearily turned his head, looking around for a pool ladder or something that could give their legs relief. To their luck, the diving board was perched at the end of the pool.

"Come on," he breathed, nodding toward the board.

They swam together, slowly toting Derek's body over to the board. Stiles reached for the handle but it was too far away as the last of his energy was spent. The three of them sank into the water.

And then they were flying through the air and landing on the side of the pool.

Olivia blinked rapidly, ignoring the sting of the chlorine, and watched as Scott roared at the lizard. The lizard leaped around the edge of the pool and lunged at Scott, tackling him to the concrete. When Scott rolled onto his feet, the lizard wrapped its tail around his right foot and threw him through the air.

Scott slammed against a large mirror and it shattered, glass falling to the floor along with him. Scott got back up and grabbed a long shard of glass, holding it up at the lizard; the lizard walked up to the glass—Scott ready to strike at it—and looked at its reflection, almost as if it was confused by what it was seeing.

The lizard screeched and jumped over Scott's head before climbing onto the ceiling and jumping out of the sky light.

Olivia, Stiles, and Derek sighed, relieved that Scott had been there to help.

It turned out that the Argent's bestiary was in the flash drive on Gerard's keys the whole time, so the whole night was basically for nothing. As Stiles, Olivia, and Derek got dry and woke up Erica, Scott went back to the main office and swiped Gerard's keys once again.

Once Scott's laptop was booted up and the bestiary was uploaded, Olivia, Stiles, and Scott studied some of the pages. None of the writing was written in English but the language did look a little familiar to Olivia.

"Is that even a language?" Stiles scoffed.

"I think it's some type of Latin," Olivia observed, narrowing her eyes at the text. "Maybe archaic."

Scott sighed heavily. "How are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?"

"It's called the kanima," Derek proclaimed as he and Erica walked over to them.

Olivia raised an eyebrow; she had never heard of a kanima but then again, she had never laid eyes on the Hale bestiary to do any research.

"You knew the whole time?" Stiles asked angrily.

Derek shook his head. "No," he denied. "only when it was confused by its own reflection."

"It doesn't know what it is," Olivia said thoughtfully, recalling the confused look in the kanima's eyes when he saw himself in the glass shard.

"Or who," Derek added.

Stiles pressed his lips together, still frustrated. "What else do you know?"

"Just stories, rumors."

"But it's like us?" Scott spoke up.

"A shape-shifter, yes," Derek explained. "but it's—it's not right. It's like an—"

"An abomination," Stiles finished for him, looking down.

Derek gave Stiles a thoughtful look but eventually nodded. He gave Olivia a look and she nodded back at him before walking over to his side. She, Derek, and Erica went to leave when Scott called out to them.

"Derek, we need to work together on this," Scott pleaded as they turned to him. "Maybe even tell the Argents."

While Olivia narrowed her eyes, Derek scoffed, "You trust them?"

"Nobody trusts anyone!" Scott exclaimed. "That's the problem. While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there's something scarier, stronger, and faster than any of us and it's killing people and we still don't even know anything about it."

Derek pressed his lips together angrily. "I know one thing," he said lowly as he turned to walk away. "When I find it, I'm gonna kill it."

Olivia gave Stiles an apologetic look as she turned and followed Derek.


	17. Betrayal

Olivia tapped her foot anxiously, the leather soles of her shoes making a short slapping noise against the cheap linoleum tiles that made up the school floor. Her eyes were on the large windows in front of her, trying to spot her cousin's red hair through Miss Morrell's door.

Lydia was making another appointment with the guidance counselor on Natalie's request. She felt that the talk Lydia had with Miss Morrell really helped her, and Lydia didn't argue when she was given another ultimatum. Olivia was just there for support but she didn't exactly want to go into the guidance counselor's office, even if it was just to make an appointment.

After the fire and the death of her mom, Olivia spent a lot of time in therapy and special sessions during school hours. She hated it and she never got anything out of it, though that could have been her fault since she hardly spoke up during her sessions. She didn't like to speak about her emotions before the fire, so afterward, it was even worse.

It wasn't that she didn't believe in therapy, because she knew that it helped a lot of people. She just wasn't one of those people who benefited from talking to a stranger with a doctorate in psychology.

"Hey," Olivia turned to see Stiles walking up to her, a pleasant smile on his face. "I've been looking for you."

"Here I am," she gave him a small smile back. "What's up?"

"Well, I did some research on the kanima last night and—oh, by the way, you were right about the archaic Latin!" Olivia gave him an amused smile as he shook his head to focus. "Anyway, I was researching the kanima and then I got distracted and did some research on you."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him. "Me?"

"Yep!" Stiles nodded proudly. "You said that your eyes turned purple, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I found that there are only four mythical creatures that have eyes that turn purple," he told her. "Fairies, pixies, anchorams, and—oddly enough—dragons."

"Dragons?" Olivia repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen you breathe fire or grow wings, though that _would_ be totally awesome," Stiles chuckled. "So, I narrowed it down to the other three."

"What's an anchoram?" Olivia asked him, never having heard of a creature like that before.

"I don't exactly know," Stiles rubbed the back of his neck. "The website I found said that they're very rare and have powers that no one really understands."

"Thanks for looking, Stiles," Olivia sighed. "but maybe I'm not meant to know what I'm supposed to be."

Stiles gave her a pointed look. "Livvy, we've been friends for a few months now, okay?" his lips quirked at the exasperated look she gave him at his nickname for her. "And I know that you hate not knowing things. I mean, you almost threw a fit when you found out that Jim and Pam from _The Office_ weren't married in real life."

"That's a bit of a stretch…" Olivia lied, recalling the urgent text messages she sent Stiles about John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer which happened to be in all capital letters. "Besides, John Krasinski is married to Emily Blunt and she's super cool."

"That's not the point—"

"What was your point, then?"

"Well, stop interrupting me and I'll tell you," Stiles' annoyed look softened when Olivia laughed and made a cute zipper motion with her lips. "My point is, is that I'll keep looking until we know exactly what you are."

Olivia's smile slowly fell as she stared up at Stiles. She could have sworn that her heart grew three sizes from his heartfelt statement. It meant so much to her that he was willing to do all that research just so they would know what was going on with her. Stiles really cared about her and it warmed her heart to know that.

When she first started talking to Stiles after Scott was bitten by Peter, she was almost always annoyed by him. She thought he was cute, sure, but his personality left more to be desired. However, the more she spent time with Stiles and she got to know more about him, she really grew to care for him. He had a temper sometimes and he loved making sarcastic comments, but he really cared for the people around him and made an effort to take care of them. Stiles was reckless and hyper and annoying and irritating but he cared about things, he was smart, he was attractive, and he liked her and stuck around despite all her faults.

A wave of realization hit her all at once as she stared into his whiskey-brown eyes. She liked Stiles. And not just in a you're-my-friend way—in a I-wanna-sleep-in-your-shirts-and-hold-your-hand way.

"_Oh, my God."_

"What?"

Olivia's eyes widened when she realized that she had actually said that out loud. Her face flushed as Stiles looked at her in confusion.

"What? Uh, nothing," she said hurriedly. "Um, I have to get to English class."

Olivia hurried away from Stiles before he could offer to walk with her—they had the same class—leaving him staring after her in bewilderment.

Stiles glared at Isaac as he walked down the hallway with Olivia, watching as they laughed together. He couldn't believe his dad when he told him about Jackson taking back his statement about Isaac's dad but when he walked into his English class, there the blonde werewolf was, talking with Olivia a few seats ahead of him.

"You know, you're gonna give yourself a headache," Scott told him as they walked down the hall together.

"It's worth it," Stiles muttered angrily. "Look at them laughing together. They must be best friends."

Scott rolled his eyes at his dramatic best friend. "They're in the same pack. It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal, all right?" Stiles scowled. "I've had a crush on her since I was eight fucking years old and just when we become friends curly over there waltzes right in and I'm chopped liver again."

Scott knew a different story than Stiles, though. He knew that Olivia's heart skipped a beat whenever she looked at Stiles or whenever he walked into the same room as her. Her heart definitely didn't skip like that when she was with Isaac.

"Trust me when I say she doesn't like Isaac like that," Scott tried to assure Stiles. "So, did you do any research?"

Stiles sighed and focused on Scott's change of subject. "All right, I only found one thing online called a kanima," he told Scott. "It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

Scott furrowed his eyebrows. "That thing was not a jaguar."

"Yeah and I'm not exactly a murderer," Stiles said pointedly.

"Yeah but you did see it kill somebody, which is probably why it tried to kill you," Scott pointed out. "And it's still trying to kill you and it probably won't stop until you're dead."

Stiles stopped in his tracks as Scott went on, giving his best friend a horrified look. Was Scott trying to scare him to death?

"You know, sometimes I really begin to question this friendship," Stiles muttered, following Scott again.

Scott chuckled at Stiles' comment and they walked into Coach's classroom, where people were already gathering for economics class. One glimpse around the classroom told Stiles that Olivia was already there, seated next to Lydia in the back, chatting quietly.

She looked up as he happened to look at her and her cheeks went red when he sent her a small wave. Lydia smirked at him as Olivia ducked her head, leaving Stiles confused.

_What's going on with her today? Usually I'm the awkward one._

Stiles took his seat next to Scott by the windows and opened his textbook as the bell rang. He was flipping to the chapter they were currently going through when Jackson sat in the seat behind Scott.

"Hey, testicle left and right," he hissed at Stiles and Scott, causing both of them to roll their eyes. "what the fuck is a kanima?"

Stiles and Scott turned around to gape at Jackson—because he was definitely not supposed to know anything about the kanima—when Coach slammed his book on his desk, grabbing everyone's attention.

"All right, listen up!" Coach said loudly. "A quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall," he gave Scott a pointed look. "might want to start their own study groups because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult, I'm not even too sure I could pass it."

The students were quiet, most of them giving Coach unimpressed looks.

Coach didn't notice their disdain. "Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question. Who's got it, huh?" he waited as a few hands flew into the air. "Olivia, come on up, buddy."

As Olivia made her way up to the chalkboard, Stiles and Scott turned back to Jackson.

"How do you know about the kanima?" Scott asked him.

"Derek practically kidnapped me last night," Jackson scowled. "He shoved some clear shit down my throat. I was paralyzed from the neck down. Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

Stiles pursed his lips, knowing exactly what Jackson was talking about. "I'm familiar with the sensation."

Jackson glared at him, as if he thought Stiles was just messing with him.

"Wait," Scott spoke up, giving Jackson a confused look. "why would Derek test you? Why would he think that it's you?"

"How should I know?" Jackson asked through clenched teeth. "They mentioned Lydia and I—"

"Wait, they think it's Lydia?" Stiles asked, quickly looking at the oblivious redhead.

"I don't know exactly," Jackson replied. "All I heard was her name and something about chemistry."

"Jackson!"

Stiles and Scott jumped in shock and whipped around, seeing that Coach had snuck up behind them as they were talking to Jackson. Their lacrosse coach didn't seem too pleased that they were talking while Olivia was up at the board answering review questions.

"Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Uh…" Jackson floundered. "Just an undying admiration for my coach."

Coach grinned. "That's really kind of you!" his smile fell and he added sharply, "Now shut up! Shut it!"

As Coach turned around and called someone else up to the board, Scott pulled on Stiles' sweatshirt, quietly asking, "How do we know it's not her?"

"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what I saw was pure evil," Stiles defended Lydia. "When I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see fifty percent evil," he hesitated and corrected himself, "All right, maybe sixty. But no more than a forty-five on a good day."

"Stiles, that's not a very good argument."

"I'm aware of that, okay, but I swear that it's not her," Stiles insisted. "It can't be, all right? Lydia's fine."

As soon as Stiles said that, he noticed that it was Lydia who had volunteered earlier to answer a question. She had half the board covered already, frantically writing down the same phrase over and over again as if she was in a trance.

The words looked like gibberish to Stiles but there was something familiar about the way the phrase was written.

As the class snickered and whispered back and forth with each other, making fun of Lydia, Stiles heard a loud gasp. He turned in Olivia's direction and was amazed to see that her eyes were purple—just like the night of the last full moon. No one else seemed to notice Olivia's predicament, too distracted by Lydia's weird behavior.

"Lydia," Coach drawled Lydia's name, trying to get her attention. "Lydia!"

Lydia gasped and turned around to face the class, tears falling down her cheeks. As the class chuckled at her, Olivia stood up and quickly made her way to the front, grabbing Lydia's hand and pulling her out of the classroom.

"Okay then," Coach turned to the class. "Anybody else want to try answering? This time in English?"

"What is that, Greek?" Scott asked, peering at the words on the board.

Stiles shook his head and pulled out his phone, snapping a quick picture of the board. "No, actually," he flipped the picture around and showed Scott. "I think it is English."

_SOMEONE HELP ME. _

Scott observed the picture and looked at Stiles. "Lydia's fine, huh?"

"I don't understand," Olivia looked between Stiles and Scott, bewildered. "Derek wouldn't hurt Lydia."

As soon as Economics class was over, Stiles and Scott had found her in the hallway, carrying the stuff she left in Coach's classroom. As she put her things away in her locker and grabbed her chemistry book, they quickly explained to her what went down with Jackson the night before.

She had no clue that Derek was going to test Jackson to see if he was the kanima or she would have definitely put a stop to it. Even though they hadn't spoken much lately, she still considered Jackson one of her closest friends and she didn't want him to get hurt. However, Jackson was paralyzed by the kanima's venom, which meant that he was fine and that they still didn't know who the kanima actually was.

Olivia just knew that it couldn't be Lydia. She was with her the night of the lacrosse game when the kanima had trapped Stiles and Derek in the pool.

"He won't hurt her if she's not the kanima," Stiles corrected her.

"Yeah, Derek's not gonna kill her without proof," Scott added as they started walking toward the chemistry lab.

Derek wouldn't kill Lydia without proof but he would definitely test her. Olivia knew Derek—she was probably the one who knew him best—so she didn't doubt that if he thought Lydia had the potential to be the kanima, he would make sure to test his theory.

She just wished Derek talked to her first so she could tell him that she was with Lydia that night and it was impossible for her to be the kanima. She couldn't be in two places at once.

"Okay, then he's gonna test her like he did with Jackson," Olivia pointed out. "And may I point out that if she suddenly collapses out of nowhere, it's gonna be hard to explain?"

"Good point," Stiles conceded as they walked into the chemistry lab. "So when and where are they gonna test her?"

Scott clicked his tongue as Isaac and Erica walked into the room, eyeing the seat next to Lydia at the front. "I think here and now."

At once, Olivia moved toward the seat next to Lydia, glaring at her packmates as they rushed toward it, too. Luckily, Olivia got there first, sliding onto the stool and giving her cousin an innocent look.

Scott pulled up another stool on the other side of Lydia and when she gave him a curious look, he gave her a cheeky smile. As the bell rang, Allison walked into the classroom and sat at the lab table next to them, taking the empty stool next to Stiles. She gave Olivia and Scott a questioning look but Scott just nodded at Stiles so he could explain to her what was going on.

"Einstein once said, '_Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe._'" Mr. Harris stated as he walked into the classroom. "I, myself, have encountered infinite stupidity," he looked pointedly at Stiles, causing the class to laugh. "So, to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that it was going to be harder to keep Isaac and Erica away from Lydia if they were going to be partnered up with random people.

"Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or, in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one," Mr. Harris continued, giving Stiles another nasty look. "Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with…"

Around the lab, many hands flew into the air, all volunteering to be partnered with the blonde werewolf. Erica smirked in satisfaction at her popularity.

"I didn't ask for volunteers," Mr. Harris scolded them. "Put your hormonal little hands down. Erica, start with Mr. McCall. All right, next two…"

Because of the odd number of students in class and the fact that Olivia was one of Mr. Harris' favorite students, Olivia, Lydia, and Allison were grouped together. Olivia and Lydia switched tables with Erica and Allison joined them before starting on their experiment.

While there was a serious situation going on with Lydia, it didn't stop Olivia from being a control freak when it came to their experiment. She took chemistry very seriously and she didn't want her perfect grade messed up because Allison wasn't paying careful attention to the amount of chemicals she put in their beaker.

"No, that's too much," she told Allison as the taller brunette poured too much chloride into the beaker. Allison let her correct the mistake without a fuss, focusing too much on Erica and Scott at the table in front of them.

Lydia tipped a teaspoon of powder into the beaker, knowing that it was the right measurement, and followed Allison's gaze. Erica's hand was on Scott's thigh and she was leaned in a little too close.

"Never?" she asked Allison doubtfully. "You never get jealous?"

"Why would I?" Allison asked casually.

"Because of that thing happening over there," Lydia pointed out, causing Olivia to look at Scott and Erica too. "That requires some jealousy."

Mr. Harris took the time to ring the bell on his desk. "Switch!"

"Listen to me, Lyd," Olivia spoke up as she grabbed the beaker so she could move tables. "Don't talk to Erica or Isaac."

"Why?" Lydia asked. "I thought you were friends…"

"We are. Just don't talk to them, okay?" she requested. "Trust me, all right?"

"Let's go, girls," Mr. Harris urged Allison and Olivia as he walked by their table.

Olivia gave Lydia a pointed look and Lydia nodded.

She left the table, her grip firm around her beaker, and went to the table where Erica was sitting. She needed to have a little chat with her packmate and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

"Hi, Liv," Erica grinned at her as she set to work, adding more ingredients to her experiment. "Switching sides now?"

"There's no sides, Erica," Olivia muttered. "but if you're intending on killing my cousin, then yeah, I guess I'm on Scott's side."

"Hmm," Erica hummed. "Does Derek know that?"

"Derek knows that I'll protect my family until my last breath," Olivia retorted, not liking the fact that Erica felt like she knew Derek more than she did. "He would know that more than anyone."

"Mmhm."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "If you guys waited until I talked to Derek, we wouldn't be having this little stand-off," she told Erica. "I have proof that Lydia's not the kanima."

"And how do we know you're not lying to protect her?"

"Because I know how important this is."

"Look, Liv, I don't particularly want to do this but what Derek says, goes," Erica admitted. Olivia was conflicted; her packmates were very important to her but this was Lydia—she couldn't let anything happen to her. "Ooh, Isaac and Stiles are talking about you."

Olivia whipped her head around to look at Stiles and Isaac, who were paired up at the table next to them. They both looked irritated to be sitting next to each other and Olivia was more than sure they were arguing.

_Was Erica right? Were they talking about me? _

_Now's not the time, Olivia, _she scolded herself._ Focus!_

Mr. Harris pressed on the bell again. "And switch."

Olivia grabbed her beaker and didn't spare Erica another look as she ended up at a table with Stiles and Scott. When she saw that Isaac had taken the empty spot next to Lydia, she went to get up to intervene.

Mr. Harris blocked her path. "Take a seat, Miss Martin."

Olivia grimaced and sat back down, exchanging nervous looks with Stiles and Scott. She focused on her experiment, looking between the beaker and Lydia and Isaac every so often. As her reaction started forming into a crystal like the lab report instructed, she could feel her pulse start to quicken.

Mr. Harris tapped the bell one last time. "Time," he declared. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal."

Despite the circumstances, Olivia was happy that she aced the experiment. Unfortunately for Stiles and Scott, their beaker was filled with what looked like brown goo.

"Now, for the part of the experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy," Mr. Harris continued. "You can eat it."

Olivia was swatting Stiles' hand away from her beaker where he was trying to take the crystal when Scott jumped up from his stool and shouted, "Lydia!"

All eyes in the classroom went to him, including Lydia. Olivia looked from Scott to her cousin, grimacing when she realized that something was dripping off the crystal in her hand.

_Kanima venom. _

"What?" Lydia snapped at Scott.

Scott looked around awkwardly and sheepishly sat back down. "Nothing."

Olivia, Stiles, and Scott watched carefully as Lydia took a bite out of her venom-covered crystal. She chewed thoroughly and swallowed yet she didn't fall to the floor, paralyzed from the neck down.

Olivia's eyes widened in confusion.

_The kanima venom didn't work on Lydia. _

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott declared as he, Stiles, Olivia, and Allison walked into Coach's office for privacy.

Olivia looked lost as she settled herself by Coach's desk; Stiles stood next to her, there to comfort her if she needed it.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked Scott.

"If he thinks she's the kanima, then yes," Scott confirmed. "especially after what happened at the pool."

Olivia shook her head. "It's not her."

Scott gave her a sympathetic look. "Liv, she didn't pass the test," he pointed out. "Nothing happened."

"I was with her while the kanima was at the pool with Stiles and Derek," she said firmly. She couldn't have been at two places at once. It can't be her."

"It doesn't matter, though, because Derek thinks it's her," Stiles stated, wrapping a comforting arm around Olivia's shoulders; to his surprise, she reached up and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"So, either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her," Allison said thoughtfully.

"Well, I really don't think he's gonna do anything here. Not at the school," Scott spoke up.

Allison gave him a pointed look. "What about after school?"

"What if we could prove that Derek's wrong?" Olivia rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"By three o'clock?" Stiles scoffed.

"There could be something in the bestiary."

"Oh, you mean the nine-hundred-page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read?" Stiles reminded Olivia sarcastically, making her roll her eyes. "Good luck with that."

"Actually," Allison hummed. "I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

"I can talk to Derek and maybe convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her," Scott volunteered.

Olivia nodded. "I'll go with you. Derek will listen to me."

"Actually, I think you and Stiles should be with Lydia," Scott countered thoughtfully. "She's more likely to go with you than anyone else and if you're there, I don't think Erica and Isaac will do anything."

Olivia didn't think Scott was right, considering the fact that Erica and Isaac didn't listen to her during Chemistry when they tested Lydia. Besides, if anyone was going to get through to Derek, it would be her. But she didn't want to argue if Lydia's life was on the line and she _would_ feel better if she was with Lydia.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed.

"Okay," Scott nodded. "and if anything else happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"

Allison looked at him, confused. "What does that mean?"

"That you can't heal like I do. I just don't want you getting hurt."

Allison pressed her lips together and grabbed her bag, pulling a small bow out of it. She turned back to Scott and declared, "I can protect myself," when she saw Scott's hesitant look, she set the bow down. "What? Did something else happen?"

"I just don't want you getting hurt," Scott insisted softly. "Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you call me, okay? I-I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can."

Olivia watched as Scott and Allison had their moment, not noticing when Stiles slipped his arm away from her and grabbed Allison's bow. Allison nodded and gave Scott a small smile.

"We have until three," Scott reminded them as he turned to walk out of Coach's office.

There was a _thwack_ noise from behind Olivia and Scott instantly turned around, his eyes wide as he caught the arrow that was headed straight to his forehead. Olivia and Allison turned to Stiles, seeing the bow in his hands, and gave him annoyed looks.

"Sorry, sorry," Stiles apologized sheepishly as he handed Allison the bow. "Sensitive trigger on that."

_Lydia. Lydia. Lydia. Lydia. _

Olivia whimpered and rubbed her temple as her cousin's name was repeated over and over in her head. Knowing that her eyes were probably turning purple, she closed them tightly so no one could see them—the last thing they needed at the moment was someone spotting unnatural purple eyes and having questions about them.

Lydia's name in her head concerned her; she knew Derek wanted to kill Lydia but, for some reason, the warnings in her head made this feel urgent, like she needed to get Lydia to safety right away or she'd be seriously hurt or even killed. There had been plenty of times Olivia had voices in her head, calling the names of her friends, but now they were louder than ever. She didn't know how she knew, but it was clear to her that Lydia was going to die if they didn't stop Derek and his pack.

"What's wrong?" Stiles whispered to her as he and Olivia walked behind Allison, Jackson, and Lydia through the hallway so they could leave school.

"We need to get Lydia out of here right now," Olivia said urgently. "_Right now_."

Stiles saw how serious Olivia was; he nodded and quickened his pace, ending up next to Lydia. He grabbed her elbow to help speed her along but the redhead ripped herself from his grasp.

"If we're doing a study group, why didn't we just stay in the library?" she asked, annoyed.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else," Stiles swiftly answered her, once again trying to hurry her along.

"Well, why don't they just meet us in the library?"

"Oh, that would have been a great idea," Stiles lamented fakely, his eyes darting back and forth across the hallway. "Too late."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him and stopped walking. "Okay, hold on—"

Jackson abruptly grabbed Lydia's arm and pushed her to start walking again. "Lydia, just shut up and walk."

Stiles, Olivia, and Allison exchanged worried looks as they followed Lydia and Jackson out of the school. The five of them got into Stiles' Jeep and he peeled out of the parking lot, going almost twenty miles over the speed limit.

They arrived at Scott's house in no time; Olivia made sure to keep close to Lydia as they got out of the vehicle, ignoring the whispers in her head that were growing more frantic.

"If we're studying at Scott's house then where's Scott?" Lydia asked curiously as they walked up the porch steps.

"Meeting us here," Stiles replied as he unlocked the door with his key. "I think. I hope."

Stiles quickly ushered everyone inside the house. As soon as Allison stepped through the threshold, Stiles slammed the door shut and started locking the deadbolt, chain, and the knob. He turned back to them and noticed the questioning look that Lydia was giving him.

"Uh, there's been a few break-ins around the neighborhood," Stiles lied.

He spotted a chair sitting by the stairs and grabbed it, wedging it under the doorknob just in case Isaac, Erica, or Boyd got any ideas about breaking the locks. Lydia pointed at the chair, narrowing her eyes.

"And a murder," Stiles added awkwardly. "Yeah, it was bad."

Jackson sighed and when Allison gestured toward upstairs, he spoke up, "Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia looked to Olivia, silently asking her if she should go with Jackson, and Olivia nodded.

_She'd be safe upstairs_, she convinced herself.

Lydia sighed heavily and started toward the stairs. "Seriously?" she asked harshly. "What is going on with everyone?"

Olivia paced back and forth in Scott's foyer as Allison spoke to Scott using Stiles' phone, informing him of their current situation. She urged him to come home as Stiles glanced away from the window and nodded at her.

Derek, Erica, Isaac, and Boyd had showed up at the McCall residence twenty minutes before and had yet to make a move. They were just staring at the house as the sky darkened, waiting for something to happen.

Olivia had no idea what to do. She had called Derek three times to try to explain what was going on with Lydia but he wasn't answering her. It frustrated her that her cousin wouldn't trust her enough to just wait and hear her out. Derek was going to kill Lydia without a second thought and it made Olivia's heart ache with grief and betrayal.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked Allison, getting Olivia's attention.

Allison sniffed as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and tapped on the screen. "I think—" she pressed her hand against her mouth. "I think I have to call my dad."

Stiles' eyes widened. "But if he finds you here, you and Scott—"

"I know," Allison nodded. "but what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us. They're here to kill Lydia."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully. "Okay, I'm going out there," she declared, ceasing her pacing to march toward the door. "I'm talking to Derek and if he—"

Stiles grabbed her around the waist and swung her away from the door. "Oh, no you don't," he said firmly. "You're staying in here where it's safe."

"Derek wouldn't hurt me."

"Well, he's currently trying to kill your cousin, so I'm not so sure of that," Stefan retorted, ignoring Olivia's annoyed glare as he turned back to the window. "Okay…I got an idea," he told Allison. "Just shoot one of them."

Allison raised her eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

"We told Scott we could protect ourselves, so let's do it," Stiles encouraged her. "Or at least give it a shot, right?"

"It might work," Olivia spoke up, moving to Allison's side to look out at her pack mates. "They don't think we'll fight so if one of them gets hit, they might take off."

"Exactly," Stiles nodded jerkily. "So just shoot one of them."

Allison nodded. "Which one?"

"Uh—Derek," Stiles said firmly. "Yeah, shoot him. Preferably in the head."

"Don't shoot Derek," Olivia objected; he was still her cousin and she loved him, even if he was trying to murder Lydia at the moment. "If Scott was able to catch an arrow, Derek will definitely be able to."

"Ugh, fine," Stiles groaned. "Just shoot one of the other three, then."

"You mean two," Allison corrected him, looking out the window again.

"What? No, I mean three," Stiles swiped the curtain aside to look at Derek and the others; Isaac was mysteriously missing. "Where the hell is Isaac?"

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as the whispers of her friends' names started up in her head again. Lydia's was the most prominent one, but Allison and Stiles' names were getting louder, too.

"Guys…" Olivia spoke up, her eyes flashing as she turned around and saw Isaac stalking toward her. "Isaac—"

Stiles and Allison turned around just as Isaac pushed Olivia out of the way, her body hitting the floor with a thump. Isaac easily grabbed the bow in Allison's hands and threw it, pushing her to the floor next to Olivia as he moved on to Stiles.

"Go get Lydia and Jackson," Olivia told Allison as she helped her up, trying to focus on anything other than the voices screaming at her. She winced as she heard the sound of Stiles and Isaac fighting in the kitchen. "Hurry."

Allison nodded and scrambled up the stairs to warn Jackson and Lydia about Isaac. Olivia rushed toward the kitchen, vaguely hearing Allison call down to them about the kanima appearing.

_Shit_, she cursed mentally, _where the hell was Scott?_

Olivia entered the kitchen just as Isaac threw Stiles onto the kitchen table, knocking down the bowl of fruit settled in the middle. Anger flared in her stomach but she tried to keep a cool head as she rushed toward the brawling boys.

"Isaac!" she shouted, reaching for one of his arms as he went to punch Stiles. "Isaac!"

Isaac turned back and growled at her, his eyes flashing gold, but faltered when she was able to grab his right arm. His wolf features disappeared—much to her confusion—and he was left defenseless as he calmed down.

While Isaac was distracted, Stiles grabbed the wooden fruit bowl and whacked Isaac on the head with it; the blonde werewolf fell to the floor, unconscious. Olivia and Stiles stared at each other with wide eyes, wondering what had just happened.

"I came to help but I can see you didn't need it," Scott said as he entered the kitchen with Allison on his heels.

"We're competent, thank you," Stiles rolled his eyes at him.

Scott grabbed Isaac by the shirt and carried him out of the kitchen, stopping to grab a paralyzed Erica on the way. He threw them both out of the front door and into his yard at Derek's feet. Olivia and the others ambled out onto the porch to stare the alpha down.

Derek huffed at his betas and looked up at Scott. "I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott," he commented, his eyes trailing over to Olivia. "You're not an omega. You're already an alpha of your own pack but you know you can't beat me."

Olivia scowled at her cousin, not liking the way his eyes flashed with betrayal. He was the one who wanted to kill Lydia. He was the one who betrayed her first.

"I can hold you off until the cops get here," Scott declared.

Derek's face fell as he looked to the side, hearing the sirens coming closer to Scott's house. He was easily distracted, as were all the others, when a hiss came from Scott's roof. They all looked up and flinched away when the kanima crawled across the shingles and screeched at them.

Derek glowered at the kanima as it scurried away and turned to Boyd. "Get them out of here."

It was then that Lydia stormed out of the house, an annoyed and frightened look on her face as she stared them all down.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" she asked loudly.

"Oh, my God," Olivia breathed in realization…and slight relief. "It's Jackson."


	18. The Revelation

**[2x06; Frenemy]**

Olivia stared at the back of Lydia's head as they sat in Allison's car, trying to process everything that had happened. Jackson—one of her closest friends that she knew since elementary school—was the gross-looking and murderous kanima. It was shocking but now it made sense why his body had been rejecting the bite. He wasn't a werewolf, he was preparing to be a kanima.

And now Lydia was confused about everything and it left Olivia thinking. She was leaning toward telling Lydia about everything—no matter how much she wanted to protect Lydia, her cousin deserved to know the truth. Olivia knew that Lydia wasn't oblivious; something was going on with Lydia anyway and if she told her the truth, maybe Lydia would spill about what going on with her.

Allison pulled into their driveway and parked the car, sighing heavily. "I need you to promise that you won't say anything about what just happened."

"I'll promise not to say anything about what just happened if you two can tell me what the hell just happened," Lydia retorted weakly.

"It's—it's kinda complicated—"

Lydia scoffed, cutting Allison off. "Well, how about you start with why Derek was there," she turned to Olivia for answers, knowing that Allison wasn't going to say anything. "Or where Jackson went or what is wrong with Erica?"

Olivia pressed her lips together. "Lydia…"

"What, do you guys need a minute to come up with a plausible lie?" Lydia narrowed her eyes.

"Part of the reason why I'm asking is because Scott and I aren't supposed to be seeing each other, okay?" Allison spoke up, frustrated. "So, it's better if you just keep what you know to yourself."

"Fine," Lydia snapped. "I'll keep what I know about you and your boyfriend—which is nothing—to myself."

Lydia opened the passenger door and went to get out of Allison's Mazda. Olivia followed her lead, sliding out of the backseat as Allison grabbed Lydia's arm to stop her from walking off.

"Hey, he's not just my boyfriend," she told Lydia softly. "You get that, right?"

"Let me go."

"Just for one second, please, try and remember."

"Remember what?" Lydia gave her a confused look.

"Remember what it feels like," Allison prompted. "All of those times in school when you see him standing down the hall and you can't breathe until you're with him. Or those times in class when you—you can't stop looking at the clock because you know that he's standing right out there waiting or you."

Despite the fact that Olivia just realized that she liked Stiles that morning, she knew what Allison was talking about. She and Stiles weren't in the same situation as Allison and Scott but those feelings could come from different situations.

When Stiles was mad at her, she felt lost. When he was there for her, she felt like she was on the top of the world. She was happy with Stiles, even if they weren't together, and she cared about him a lot. She knew that he cared for her, too.

"Don't you remember what that's like?" Allison finished, looking at Lydia imploringly.

It was quiet for a few seconds until Lydia whispered, "No."

"What do you mean, no?" Allison looked at her, confused. "You've had boyfriends."

"None like that," Lydia rasped, pulling away from Allison's grasp. She slid out of the car and slammed the door shut, marching up the rest of the driveway.

"Lydia," Olivia called, quickening her pace so she could catch up with her. "Lyd, would you just wait for a second?"

"Why, so you can feed me some ridiculous lie?" Lydia snapped as they walked up the steps to the front door, swiftly unlocking it.

"No, Lydia, I'm gonna tell you the truth," Olivia declared; Lydia opened the door and turned to her with a curious expression. "All of it. From the very beginning."

Lydia pursed her lips. "Fine. Tell me everything."

Stiles crept through the alleyway Scott had told him led to the nightclub that Jackson had ran away to, hands sheathed in his pockets as he looked for his best friend. Once he caught sight of the neon sign, it was easy to spot Scott, who was hiding at the back of the building.

He walked over to him, gasping when Scott jumped in fright at the sight of him.

"Holy shit," Scott breathed.

"Sorry, sorry," Stiles apologized sheepishly. "Did you see where he went?"

Scott shook his head. "I lost him."

"What? You couldn't catch his scent?"

"I don't think he has one."

"All right," Stiles sighed, frustrated. "Any clue why he came here?"

"To kill someone," Scott stated matter-of-factly.

"Ah," Stiles nodded sarcastically; did Scott think he was clueless? "That explains the claws, the fangs, and all that. Good. It makes perfect sense now."

Scott gave him an annoyed look that had him defending himself.

"Scott, come on," he complained. "I'm one hundred and forty-seven pounds of pale skin and fragile bone, okay? Sarcasm is my only defense."

"Just help me find it."

"Not it, Jackson," Stiles reminded Scott.

Scott sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"All right but does he know that? Did anybody else see him back at your house?"

Scott paused thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't think so but he already passed Derek's test anyway."

"Yeah…" Stiles nodded, his mind racing. "How did he pass the test, anyway?"

Scott shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe it's like an either-or thing," Stiles suggested. "I mean, Derek said that a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom, right? When's the kanima not the kanima?"

"When it's Jackson," Scott supplied.

Stiles nodded in confirmation, his eyes wandering around the building. He stiffened when he saw the kanima's tail flick out of an open window on the second floor. "Dude," he nudged Scott. "Do you see that?"

"He's inside," Scott sniffed once, trying to get Jackson's scent, but smelt something familiar that reminded him of Danny. His eyes drifted from the window and trailed to the line in front of the club, spotting Danny being ushered inside. "I know who he's after."

"What, how?" Stiles had no idea how Scott figured that out. "Did you smell something?"

Scott nodded. "Armani."

"Danny's cologne?" Stiles asked; Scott nodded and started walking to the side of the building, Stiles trailing after him.

They both sighed in relief when they saw a door that would let them into the club without having to break out their fake IDs. However, when Stiles went to grab the doorknob, they discovered that the door was locked.

"Shit," Stiles hissed, rattling the doorknob once more before Scott pulled him away. "All right, maybe there's, like, a window we could climb through or some kind of—"

He was cut off by Scott ripping the doorknob off the door; the knob fell to the concrete with a metallic clank.

"—handle that we could rip off with supernatural strength," Stiles finished as Scott opened the door. "How'd I not think of that one?"

Scott shrugged and walked into the club, Stiles sneaking in behind him and quietly shutting the door. It was dark in the hallway they walked through, but eventually, the more they walked, they could see neon lights lighting up the dancefloor and bar.

Electric dance music that made Stiles' heart race boomed across the club as men danced up on other men. Before Stiles could tell the oblivious Scott that the club—Jungle—was actually a gay club, he was pulled away by a group of nice drag queens.

"Dude, everyone in here is a dude," Scott called to him—it was a miracle that Stiles could even hear him. "I think we're in a gay club."

Stiles smiled politely at the drag queen on his left, who was stroking his hoodie-clad shoulder, and narrowed his eyes at Scott. "Man, nothing gets past those keen werewolf senses, huh, Scott?"

Scott rolled his eyes at him and Stiles politely excused himself from the ladies. They wandered over to the bar, pulling out their wallets to show to pay for a drink.

"Two beers, please," Stiles requested the bar tender.

"IDs?" the guy looked at them expectantly.

Stiles grinned and pulled his fake ID out of his wallet, handing it to the bar tender. The man smirked as he read the names and birthdates on the fake cards and returned them to Stiles and Scott.

"How about two Cokes?"

"Rum and Coke? Sure!" Stiles exclaimed, nodding his head along to the beat of the song pumping through the club. When the bar tender gave him an unimpressed look, he sighed. "Coke's fine, actually. I'm driving, anyway."

The bar tender waved a hand at his co-worker before walking away to serve another customer. Another guy—this one was shirtless—walked up with two sodas, sliding them over the bar to Stiles and Scott.

"That one," the guy nodded at Scott's drink. "is paid for."

The guy nodded down the bar, where a guy raised his beer bottle at Scott with a sleazy grin. Scott smiled back at him and took a sip of Coke, grinning at Stiles' irritated look.

"Oh, shut up," he grumbled, picking up his own soda.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, well, your face did," Stiles turned away from the bar and sipped at his drink, looking around the crowd for any sign of Danny. It took a couple of seconds before he spotted their classmate. "Hey, I found Danny."

"I found Jackson," Scott countered, his eyes on the ceiling where the kanima was crawling about creepily. "Get Danny."

"What are you gonna do?" Stiles asked; Scott didn't answer verbally but instead walked toward the dance floor. "Works for me."

He made his way toward the dance floor where Danny was grinding up on some unknown shirtless guy. He called Danny's name a couple of times but the music was too loud and Danny was too distracted to hear him.

All of a sudden, people started dropping like flies. The music cut off as people started to scream, which caused Stiles' flight response. He ran away from the dance floor, entering the hallway he and Scott used to get into the club, and exiting the building.

It didn't take long for him to hear sirens.

Lydia stared at Olivia in shock, wordlessly opening and closing her mouth a couple of times. She looked like a fish but Olivia didn't think it would be too nice if she started laughing at her cousin while she had just found out the truth about everything.

Olivia had started from the beginning, just like Lydia requested. She explained how supernatural creatures actually existed out of storybooks and that the Hale family were werewolves. She explained about the fire and how Grace Martin really died because of Kate Argent and she told her about Laura's death, Scott's transformation, and realizing that Peter was actually the alpha werewolf who murdered all those people and bit Lydia and Olivia.

Lydia was shocked, to say the least. But everything sort of made sense…When Jackson and Olivia were attacked at the movie rental store, she had seen something she couldn't explain. When she was bitten at the winter formal, she did see Olivia's dad and he was the one who bit her. She thought that she had been going crazy but she wasn't. Not about that, at least.

"Scott's a werewolf," she breathed. "and so is Derek."

Olivia nodded patiently.

"And Jackson is a what?"

"A kanima," Olivia reminded her. "Sometimes people take the shape of who they are."

"That's weird," Lydia wrinkled her nose. "and he doesn't know what he is?"

"I doubt it," Olivia shook her head. "Jackson's a dick but I don't think he would knowingly kill people."

Lydia nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

"Lyds, I'm so sorry I've been lying to you," Olivia grabbed Lydia's hands and squeezed them comfortingly. "I thought that would keep you safe but I was being stupid. I just wanted to protect you."

"You were being stupid," Lydia agreed, squeezing her back. "I'm supposed to protect you, too, Liv."

Olivia lowered her head, ashamed. "I know. I'm so sorry, Lydia. I really am."

"It's okay," Lydia said quietly. "I just, I don't think I want anything to do with this. I'm already freaked out."

"Freaked out?" Olivia looked at her sharply, concerned. "About what?"

"I don't know," Lydia shrugged self-consciously. "I feel like I'm going crazy. I keep seeing things, things that I'm not sure are there."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, her mind racing. She had to figure out what was going on with Lydia. She owed it to her to find out, especially since she felt responsible for getting her cousin into this supernatural mess.

"I'll look into," Olivia promised her. "I'll find out what's going on, Lydia."

Lydia smiled slightly. "Thanks, Liv," she pulled her cousin into a quick hug, feeling relieved that she knew the truth now. "I'm gonna let Sirius out before we go to bed."

"Okay," Olivia nodded and watched Lydia climb off her bed. "Goodnight, Lyd, love you."

"Love you, too," Lydia gave her a quick smile and whistled for Sirius. The corgi jumped off Olivia's bed and sped over to Lydia, chirping happily. "Night."

Olivia sighed as Lydia shut her door and laid down, snuggling into her pillow. Lydia knew the truth. Now, she had to figure out how to help her and find out what was going on with Jackson.

"I didn't get anything out of Danny," Scott informed Stiles as he climbed into the Jeep, glancing at Jackson in the backseat.

After the kanima had paralyzed several people at the club, Derek found him and slit his throat. Somehow, the kanima hadn't died and had transformed back into Jackson outside the club. When Scott and Stiles found him, he was perfectly okay, besides the fact that he was butt naked and passed out.

He and Stiles had drug him to the Jeep and Stiles kept watch while Scott questioned Danny, who happened to get paralyzed.

"Okay, can we just get the fuck out of here before one of my dad's deputies sees me?" Stiles asked him frantically. Scott nodded and Stiles started up the Jeep just as Noah's cruiser entered the lot in front of them. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Could this get any worse?"

Jackson moaned groggily from the back, answering his question.

"That was rhetorical!" Stiles shouted at him.

"Get rid of him," Scott urged him, pointing at Noah.

"Get rid of him?" Stiles repeated in exasperation. "We're at a crime scene and he's the sheriff."

"Do something!"

Stiles groaned and opened his door, stumbling out of the Jeep. His dad exited his cruiser at the same time, narrowing his eyes when he saw that it was Stiles who was walking toward him.

"Hey!" Stiles called, trying to act casual.

Noah approached him, folding his arms over his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"What, it's a club!" Stiles gestured toward the building overrun with police officers. "It's a club, we were clubbing, you know?"

Noah glanced at Jungle and then back at Stiles. "Not exactly your type of club."

Stiles spluttered awkwardly and scrambled for an excuse. "Uh, well, Dad…There's a conversation that we—"

"You're not gay."

Stiles gaped at him, offended. Just because he wasn't gay didn't mean he couldn't be! He had never had a conversation discussing his sexuality with his dad, anyway.

"What, I could be!"

Noah shook his head. "Not dressed like that."

Stiles gave him an offended look before looking down at his t-shirt and jeans.

_What's wrong with my outfit?_ He mentally asked himself.

"Well, that's, uh—"

Noah cut him off again. "This is the second crime scene that you just happened to have shown up on," he pointed out. "And, at this point, I've been fed so many lies, I'm not sure I know the kid standing in front of me."

Stiles' shoulders deflated guiltily. He hated lying to his dad but he had to protect him. He was better off being in the dark about this whole thing.

"Now, what the hell has been going on?"

There was a thump from the Jeep that distracted them; they turned to see that Scott was smiling innocently, waving at them cheerfully.

_What an idiot._

"Dad," Stiles sighed, turning back to his father.

"The truth, Stiles."

"The truth, all right," Stiles nodded, thinking up another lie. "Well, the truth is that we were here with Danny. He just broke up with his boyfriend, you know, so we were just trying to take him out and get his mind off things. That's—that's it."

He stared at his dad, hoping that Noah would believe him. Thankfully, after a few quiet seconds, Noah nodded.

"That's really good of you guys," he smiled at Stiles. "You're good friends."

Stiles nodded, feeling guilt swell in his chest. He smiled and playfully punched his dad in the shoulder before saying goodbye. As Noah started walking toward the crime scene, he went back to the Jeep.

Once he was settled with his seatbelt on, he started the engine and pulled out of the chaotic parking lot. As he drove them down the highway with Jackson in the backseat with nowhere to go, he turned to Scott for answers.

"What should we do with him?"

"Take him somewhere," Scott shrugged, at a loss just like Stiles.

"Um, okay, what about your house?"

Scott shook his head. "Not with my mom there. We need to take him somewhere where we can hold him long enough to figure out what to do with him," he proposed. "Or long enough to convince him that he's dangerous."

Stiles sighed and looked in the rear-view mirror. "I still say we just kill."

"We're not killing him," Scott said sternly.

"Fine, fine," Stiles groaned. "Okay, okay, I've got an idea."

"Does it involve breaking the law?"

Stiles gave him a pointed look. "By know, don't you think that's a given?"

"I was trying to be optimistic."

"Don't bother."

"You're an idiot," Olivia declared, looking over at Stiles as he drove them through the preserve. "You and Scott. I can't believe that you thought it would be a good idea to _kidnap_ Jackson!"

"It's not kidnapping—"

"It's kidnapping, Stiles," Olivia snapped. "I'm not an idiot, okay?"

Stiles gave her an annoyed look. "Well, what the hell were we supposed to do with him?"

"I don't know, talk to him?" Oliva suggested pointedly. "Let me talk to him? Not break the law and steal police property to hold him in the woods against his will?"

Stiles huffed as he turned down the road that would lead them to where he and Scott stashed the police van they had stolen. "Sorry I'm not perfect like you, Olivia."

"Stiles, you know perfectly well that I'm not perfect," Olivia retorted. "but you guys probably just made this whole thing worse."

"Okay, I get it," Stiles snapped at her. "I messed up. I know. Can we please move on?"

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him but sighed, knowing that they couldn't change what had happened. Somehow she had to convince Jackson that he was dangerous and to not flip out on Stiles and Scott for kidnapping him.

"Fine."

"Fine," Stiles exhaled as he slowed down once he was parked a couple feet away from the van. "Did you get the sandwiches?"

Olivia nodded tensely. "Ham and cheese, just like Jackson likes."

"Okay, what about my—"

"I brought you the turkey club, yeah," Olivia confirmed, patting the paper bag she had packed at her house before he picked her up.

"Thanks."

Stiles turned off the Jeep and slipped out of his seat. Olivia followed his lead, quietly following him over to the large police van. He unlocked the van and gave Jackson a cautious look before climbing into the back with him.

"Okay, we brought you some—"

Jackson lunged for him, only stopping because of the chains that held him down. "Let me out now!"

"Jackson!" Olivia called as she climbed in the seat beside Stiles. "Calm down."

"Liv, what the fuck?" Jackson looked at her in shock. "Are you helping him?"

"Of course not," Olivia shook her head. "I'm not stupid enough to kidnap you."

"Thanks," Stiles said flatly, glaring at her.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Jackson. "Look, I just want to talk to you."

"We can talk when you let me out!" Jackson insisted angrily.

"You know, I put those pants on you, all right, buddy?" Stiles spoke up, irritated. "One leg at a time. Being all up and personal with your junk wasn't exactly a highlight of my day, so don't think this is fun for me, either. You know we're actually doing you a favor?"

Jackson narrowed incredulously his eyes at the older teenager. "This is doing me a favor?"

"Yes," Stiles nodded. "You're killing people—to death."

Olivia sighed in exasperation, knowing that Stiles wasn't helping Jackson's anger. All he was really doing was riling him up.

"Yeah," Stiles continued. "and until we can figure out how to stop you, you're gonna stay in here."

"Stiles," Olivia shook her head. "Please, just shut up."

Stiles made an indignant noise but she just ignored him, turning to face Jackson.

"Look, Jax, I'm sorry about this," she sincerely apologized. "but you are killing people."

Jackson gave her a look of disbelief and scoffed heavily.

"Now, do you want the sandwich we brought you or what?" Stiles took the paper bag from Olivia. "It's ham and cheese."

"You actually think my parents won't be looking for me?"

Olivia looked at Stiles, thinking that Jackson had a good point. David and Kathy Whittemore may not be around much, but they still loved Jackson deeply. And Kathy was a little bit paranoid when he didn't check in with them while he was at school or hanging out with friends.

Stiles smiled in satisfaction and threw Jackson his sandwich before pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Not if they don't think anything is wrong," he showed Jackson the messages he had sent Kathy Whittemore. "Yeah…"

"Jackson," Olivia tried to take hold of the conversation. "You remember how you asked Stiles and Scott about the kanima?"

"Yeah."

"Well, guess what, buddy? You're that kanima." Stiles didn't get the gist that Olivia wanted to break the news to Jackson delicately.

Jackson raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm the kanima."

"I know it sounds like we're lying but we're not," Olivia leaned forward to get his attention. "Jax, I wouldn't lie to you about this, okay?"

"So, what, I'm a weird monster or something?" Jackson scoffed. "Come on, Liv, you can't believe this."

"Jackson, I saw you," Olivia tried to get him to believe her. "You have scaled and everything."

"Scales?" he raised an eyebrow. "Like a fish?"

"No, it's more like a reptile," Stiles jumped in. "and you have claws that have this liquid that paralyzes people…oh, and you have a tail."

"I have a tail?" Jackson asked flatly.

"Yeah, you have a tail."

Jackson hummed, humoring Stiles. "Does it do anything?"

Olivia sighed. "Not that we know of."

"Can I use it to strangle this idiot?" Jackson nodded toward Stiles.

"You still don't believe us," Stiles stated the obvious. "All right, the night of the semi-final game, what did you do right after?"

"I went home."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, you dumbass," Jackson glared at him. "What the hell else would I do?"

"You attacked me, Stiles, and Derek at the school," Olivia informed him. "and you trapped us in the pool."

"You also killed a mechanic," Stiles added. "Right in front of me, by the way. That was lovely."

"You killed one of Argent's hunters," Olivia continued. "and last night, you tried to kill Danny."

"Why would I want to kill my best friend?" Jackson glanced between Olivia and Stiles.

"Well, that's what Scott's out trying to figure out," Stiles pressed his lips together.

"Well, maybe he should be trying to figure out how he's going to pay for a lawyer when I prosecute your asses all the way to jail!" Jackson raised his voice.

Olivia pursed her lips and turned to Stiles for his reaction. Thankfully, he was pretty calm about Jackson's outburst.

"All right, well, tell me this," Stiles said seriously. "One the night of the first full moon, what happened?"

Jackson deflated at the question. "Nothing," his voice was melancholy. "Nothing happened."

Hours had passed but the three of them kept talking in circles. Olivia was trying her best to get Jackson to believe her about the fact that he was the kanima but every time she made a little progress with him, Stiles would make a sarcastic comment that put him on edge.

It frustrated the hell out of her that Stiles wouldn't leave her to talk to Jackson alone. He didn't want her in danger but he didn't realize that Jackson wasn't going to give in while he was around antagonizing him.

Finally, Olivia and Stiles gave Jackson some space to cool off. Stiles took the time to message David and Kathy with Jackson's phone while Olivia read through her emails about the college courses she had signed up to take over the summer.

It was only twenty minutes after three in the afternoon that Allison approached them. She scared the hell out of Stiles but she was too frantic to care about his surprise.

"They know," she told him urgently.

"What?" Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, confused.

"They know Jackson's missing," Allison elaborated.

"No, they can't," Stiles shook his head in denial. "I've been texting his parents since last night. They don't have a clue."

"My grandfather told me his parents went to the police," Allison corrected him. "They know."

Stiles looked down at the phone in his hands and grimaced. He dashed toward the front of the van and turned on the radio connected to the dashboard.

"_All available units proceed to Beacon Hills Preserve as instructed_," dispatch declared. "_Proceed with caution until Sheriff Stilinski's arrival. Proceed with caution."_

Olivia sighed in annoyance and hoped that if anyone got in trouble, it wouldn't be her.

Stiles frantically dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out his keys and handing them to Olivia. "Drive the Jeep. Both of you follow me."

"Where are we going?" Allison asked him as he climbed into the driver's seat.

"Somewhere very far from this," Stiles threw Jackson's phone out the window. "Come on, let's go."

Olivia ran away from the van to Stiles' Jeep, trying not to worry about the fact that she had no driver's license. She hadn't even finished driver's education but she knew enough to drive a car. She hopped into the Jeep and followed the van and Allison's Mazda out of the preserve.

"If Jackson doesn't remember being the kanima, he's definitely not gonna remember stealing Danny's tablet," Scott sighed as he led Stiles, Olivia, and Allison out toward the cliff they had stashed the police van at.

Scott had gone to the hospital to ask Danny if Jackson was angry with him and it turned out that Danny was actually doing him a favor. He was trying to fix a video that Jackson needed help with and it was on his tablet. By the time Scott had gotten to Danny's car at the club, the hatch had been broken into and the tablet gone.

"Why would he steal the thing if he doesn't even know what's on it?" Stiles asked.

"How could he have taken it anyway?" Olivia added. "He's been in the van since last night."

"Maybe someone else took it," Allison suggested.

"Then somebody else knows what he is," Scott declared. "which means someone's protecting him."

"Like the bestiary said, the kanima seeks a friend," Allison added.

"Okay, hold on," Stiles shook his head, trying to process everything. "So, somebody watches Jackson make a video of himself turning into the kanima and then just erases part of it so he wouldn't know? I mean, who would do that?"

"Somebody who wanted to protect him?" Olivia shrugged.

"There's something else," Scott spoke up, turning to Stiles. "You said the only thing you found online about the kanima is that it goes after murderers. What if that's actually true?"

Stiles shook his head. "No, it can't be," he denied. "It tried to kill all of us, remember? I don't know about you three but I haven't murdered anybody lately."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. The kanima may have killed someone in front of Stiles but it hadn't done anything to him. And it didn't do anything to Scott and Allison at Isaac's house on the full moon, either. At the pool, it did paralyze Derek but it didn't seem in a rush to kill her, Derek, and Stiles. It was just circling the pool, making sure they couldn't get out.

"What if it wasn't trying to kill us," Olivia shared her theory, making all of them turn toward her.

Allison thoughtfully raised her eyebrows while Scott slowly nodded.

"That's true," he agreed and asked Allison, "Remember when we were at Isaac's the first time, it just went right by us, didn't it?"

Allison nodded. "You're right, it just ran off."

"And it didn't kill you at the mechanic's garage," Scott pointed at Stiles.

"Well, yeah, but it tried to kill me, Livvy, and Derek at the pool," Stiles disagreed.

"But it didn't," Olivia reminded him.

"It would have," Stiles argued weakly. "It was waiting for us to come out."

"What if it was trying to keep us in?" Olivia countered.

Stiles' face scrunched up in disgust. "Why do I feel so violated all of a sudden?"

"Because there's something else going on," Scott stated. "We don't know what it is. We don't know anything about what's going on with Jackson or why someone's protecting him."

"Know thy enemy," Allison whispered; when Olivia, Scott, and Stiles looked to her in question, she shrugged. "Just something my grandfather said."

"All right," Stiles clapped as though he had an idea. "I got it. We kill Jackson. Problem solved."

Olivia and Scott instantly disagreed.

"He risked his life for us," Scott reminded Stiles. "Against Peter, you remember that?"

"Yeah but what did we just find out?" Stiles prompted. "He got the bite from Derek. It's funny how he just got exactly what he wanted by supposedly risking his life for us. It's funny."

"It doesn't matter," Olivia shook her head, narrowing her eyes at him. "Just because he got the bite doesn't mean he's not worth saving."

"It's always something with him, though," Stiles complained.

"He doesn't know what he's doing," Scott defended Jackson.

"So what?"

"So, I didn't either," Scott told Stiles before turning to Allison. "You remember when I almost killed you and Jackson?" Allison nodded. "I had someone to stop me. He has nobody."

"That's his own fault."

"He has me," Olivia declared, looking from Stiles to Scott and Allison. "So, if we can save him, we need to try."

Scott made a face of agreement and Stiles fell silent, giving in. What Scott said, goes. Olivia was just glad that he was on her side.

Two hours later, after Olivia and Stiles went and had an awkward dinner at the nearest diner, they arrived back at the cliff. There wasn't much saving that was going to happen, though, because the back of the police van was wide open.

Jackson was no where in sight.

Olivia cursed under her breath and exchanged an anxious look with Stiles. They informed a very naked Scott and Allison what had happened and after they got dressed, they started discussing what they needed to do.

"I have to tell my father," Allison decided as Scott slowly walked away from the van. "Scott, he's going to kill someone."

Scott turned back to them and nodded. "Okay, tell him. Tell him everything."

"Scott, I gotta tell mine too," Stiles spoke up reluctantly.

Olivia pursed her lips worriedly. If Allison was going to tell her dad about Jackson, he was dead. There was no way Mr. Argent was going to let him live while he had no control over himself and was killing random people. She didn't want Jackson to die.

"This is all my fault," Scott muttered under his breath.

"It's not," Allison disagreed. "but we have to tell them. We're just a bunch of teenagers. We can't handle this."

Scott nodded. "You're right."

"Stiles," Olivia spoke up, making him turn to her. "How are you gonna make your dad believe everything?"

Stiles' face fell and he subconsciously shuffled closer to her. "I don't know."

Scott flashed his golden eyes. "He'll believe me."

Olivia nodded and swallowed harshly. "Okay," she sighed. "We should get going, then. Who knows where Jackson could be."

The others nodded in agreement; Allison and Olivia made their way to the former's car while Scott and Stiles headed for the Jeep. Spilling the beans on Jackson didn't feel right but what else were they supposed to do?

Olivia turned on the light in her bedroom and gasped when she saw that Lydia was sitting on her bed. She was dressed in her pajamas with Sirius laying beside her, his tail wagging when he spotted Olivia.

"Lyd," she sighed. "You scared me. You okay?"

"I've been waiting for you for an hour," Lydia informed her. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been with Stiles, trying to convince Jackson that he's a kanima," Olivia admitted, knowing that lying to Lydia wasn't an option from now on. Even if she didn't want to be included, she needed to know what was going on so she wasn't caught off guard. "Why were you waiting for me?"

"Remember how you told me about the Argent's bestiary?" Lydia recalled, sitting up against Olivia's headboard.

"Yeah, it's in archaic Latin."

"Well, I know archaic Latin," Lydia informed her. "So, if you need me to translate it for you, I will."

Olivia gave her an appraising look. "Since when did you know archaic Latin?" she asked. "And I thought you didn't want to be involved."

"I got bored with classical Latin," Lydia admitted. "and I don't want to do nothing when Jackson's in danger. So, if you need me to translate some supernatural dictionary, I will."

"It's five pages," Olivia warned her.

"Just show me them," Lydia held her hand out expectantly.

Olivia grabbed her backpack from the floor by her bookshelf and pulled out the pages that Allison had copied for her. She had attempted to translate the pages herself but she was getting nowhere.

Once Lydia got the pages in her hands, it was simply a waiting game. Thankfully, Lydia was a genius so it only took about an hour for her to translate everything. What she did translate, however, shocked Olivia to her core.

"Wait, are you sure that's right?" Olivia pointed to the end of one of the sentences. "Miss Morrell told Allison that the word meant friend. That the kanima seeks a friend."

Lydia shook her head. "She was wrong," she declared. "It means master."

"The kanima seeks a master," Olivia breathed. "So, someone's not protecting him."

"No," Lydia shook her head, her eyes growing with horror. "someone's controlling him."


	19. Whispers

**[2x07; Restraint]**

"So, if Jackson doesn't know what he's doing then he probably doesn't know that someone is controlling him," Olivia said into her phone, finishing her explanation to Stiles and Scott, where had called her from the police station.

Apparently Jackson had beat them to Stiles' dad and they were in a lot of trouble with the sheriff and Mr. Whittemore.

"_Or he doesn't remember_," Scott added with a sigh.

"_What if it's the same kind of thing that happened with Lydia when she took off from the hospital?"_ Stiles suggested.

"A fugue state," Olivia supplied, remembering the bullshit diagnosis that the doctors gave her cousin.

"_He'd have to forget everything, the murder,"_ Scott started to list. "_getting rid of the blood."_

"_Yeah but he had help with one thing, though_," Stiles reminded them. "_The video. And someone else helped him forget that."_

"Whoever's controlling him," Olivia guessed.

"_Did Jackson believe you guys when you tried to explain what was going on?"_

"_Nope_," Stiles sighed. "_He thinks he's still becoming a werewolf and that being with Lydia somehow delayed the whole thing."_

"He's being an idiot," Olivia huffed. "Should we try again?"

"_If it helps us find out who's controlling him, then yeah_," Scott confirmed.

"I doubt he's gonna wanna talk to me any time soon."

"_We'll try then,"_ Stiles assured Olivia. _"He'll talk to us, right?"_

"No, probably not," Olivia shook her head, though Scott and Stiles couldn't see her. "Okay, let me know what happens."

"_We will. See ya."_

Olivia ended the call and threw her phone on her bed. There was no doubt in her mind that Jackson wouldn't speak to Stiles and Scott. If she knew him like she thought she did, the boys were going to be in big trouble.

It turned out that Olivia was right. Stiles and Scott weren't going to be able to speak to Jackson. Not if the restraining order that his dad presented them would somehow disappear. It was ridiculous that Jackson and his father were doing this to them; they were just trying to help Jackson.

It wasn't their fault he was a murderous lizard with a bad memory.

"You will not go within fifty feet of Jackson Whittemore," Noah read the last paragraph of the restraining order that Mr. Whittemore filed. "You will not speak to him. You will not approach him. You will not assault or harass him physically or psychologically."

"What about school?" Stiles asked innocently, glancing at Melissa and Mr. Whittemore as Noah dropped the clipboard on the table they were sitting at.

"You can attend classes while attempting to maintain a fifty-foot distance," Noah answered sternly.

"Okay, but what if we both have to use the bathroom at the same time and there's only two stalls available and they're only right next to each other?" Stiles gestured, acting out the situation with his fingers. Noah glowered at him. "I'll just hold it."

After Stiles and Scott had signed the restraining order, agreeing to keep away from Jackson, Noah practically dragged Stiles out of the room.

"Do I need to remind you how lucky we are that they're not pressing charges?" his dad said sternly as he pulled him to one side of the hallway, allowing Melissa and Scott to walk past them.

"Oh, come on, it was just a joke," Stiles groaned.

"It was a joke?"

"Yes, I didn't think it would be taken this seriously," Stiles spoke quickly, lying through his teeth. "Dad, humor is very subjective, okay? I mean, we're talking, like, multiple levels of interpretation here."

"Uh-huh," Noah deadpanned; Stiles nodded. "Okay, well, how exactly am I supposed to interpret the stolen prison transport van, huh?"

Stiles scoffed in offense. "We filled the tank!"

Noah angrily pressed his lips together and Stiles fell silent, seeing the vein throbbing at his temple. That was the clearest sign that his dad was about to lose his temper. Stiles knew all about it because it was his dad that he got his temper from.

"Get out of here," Noah said slowly and quietly.

"Yes, sir," Stiles said quickly. "Bye, love you."

He didn't wait for a response as he left his dad, walking down the hallway in the direction that Scott and Melissa went. When he found the McCalls, Scott was in the middle of a lecture from his mom, who was shaking she was so angry.

"You are grounded!" was the first actual thing he could interpret.

Scott winced at her. "What about work?"

"Fine," Melissa sighed. "other than work. And no TV."

"My TV's broken."

"Then no computer."

"I need the computer for school."

"Then no, uh—" she looked around and spotted Stiles behind her, clearly eavesdropping. "No Stiles."

"What?" Stiles objected. "No Stiles?"

"No Stiles!" Melissa exclaimed, turning back to Scott. "and no more car privileges. Give me your keys. Give them to me!"

Scott scrambled to pull his keychain out of his jeans, handing them over to Melissa. She picked up the car key and struggled to take the key off the ring, having trouble like any other person on the planet when it came to those monstrosities.

"Oh, for the love of God."

"Mom, you want me to—"

"No," Melissa pulled away as Scott reached for the keys, still struggling.

"Mom," Scott sighed. "come on, let me just—" he grabbed her hands, stilling them. "Mom."

Melissa sniffed and looked up at him. "What is going on with you?" she asked him quietly. "Is this about Allison?"

Stiles perked up at the question and wildly shook his head at Scott, drawing his attention.

"Do you really wanna know?" Scott asked her; Melissa nodded.

"Yeah," she confirmed and Stiles shook his head again. Scott hesitated and Melissa took that as a no. "Is this about your father?"

Stiles nodded jerkily, silently telling Scott to agree.

"It is, isn't it?" Melissa went on when Scott didn't answer. "Okay, you know what? We'll, um, we'll talk about this at home. I'm gonna go get the car."

Stiles walked up to Scott's side as Melissa left the station, giving him a sympathetic look.

"I'm the worst son ever," Scott sighed heavily.

Stiles pressed his lips together and looked back at the interrogation room they had all gathered in. He could see through the window that Mr. Whittemore was berating his dad, scolding him for Stiles' sarcastic comments.

"Well, I'm not exactly winning any prizes either," Stiles said sadly.

Olivia walked into the library, trying not to draw attention to herself. She was fully aware of the cameras that followed her every move; the Argents had taken over the school, which left her paranoid that they would come to kill her any second. For now, she just had to act like everything was okay and stay away from Allison.

Which wasn't going to be easy since she had to meet up with her, Stiles, and Scott to inform them about everything Lydia translated about the kanima.

Olivia turned down the classical fiction aisle where Scott had told her Allison would be hiding. She saw Allison's head peek out around the endcap and subtly nodded at her before stopping in the middle of the aisle to look through the bookshelf where Scott and Stiles were on the other side.

She pulled out the iPad she had brought to school. Everything that she and Lydia translated was on it. She handed it through the bookshelf to Scott, who started flipping through the notes.

"It's everything Lydia translated," she whispered, acting casual. "She was pretty confused."

"What did you tell her?" Scott wondered.

"That we were part of some ridiculous online gaming community that battles mythical creatures," she told him the lie she and Lydia made up so they wouldn't know that Lydia knew everything.

Scott snickered.

"I am a part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures," Stiles blinked at her, not understanding what was so funny about it.

"Of course you are," Olivia rolled her eyes fondly.

Stiles gave her an annoyed look.

"Okay, does it say how to find out who's controlling him?" Allison whispered to them.

Olivia shook her head. "Not really but Stiles was right about the murderers."

"Yes!" Stiles hissed excitedly.

"It calls the kanima a weapon of vengeance," Olivia continued like he hadn't spoken. "There's a story in there about this South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murderers in his village—"

"All right, see?" Stiles perked up, thinking that maybe the kanima wasn't as bad as they thought. "So maybe it's not all that bad."

"Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to," Olivia finished.

"Okay, all bad," Stiles nodded in realization. "All very, very bad."

"The thing that stood out to me was that the kanima is actually supposed to be a werewolf," Olivia told them. "But it can't be—"

"_Until it resolves that in its past which manifested it,"_ Scott finished, reading the text on the tablet; Olivia nodded.

"Okay, if that means that Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy, I could have told you that myself," Stiles commented.

"What if it has something to do with his parents?" Allison spoke up. "His real parents."

"Yeah, does anybody actually know what happened to them?" Scott wondered.

"I don't," Olivia shook her head. "He was pretty tight-lipped about it. He told Lydia, though."

"Maybe you can get her to tell you," Stiles suggested to her.

Olivia nodded. "I'll ask her."

"And if she doesn't know?" Scott asked, paranoid that Lydia wouldn't be able to give them any information.

"Well, he doesn't have a restraining order against me," Allison answered. "I'll talk to him myself."

"Okay, what do I do?" Scott looked down the aisle where Allison was hiding and then back at Olivia and Stiles.

"You have a make-up exam, remember?" Allison reminded him. "Promise me."

Scott hesitated. "If he does anything, you run the other way," he requested.

"I can take care of myself."

"Allison, if you get hurt while I'm busy with some stupid test, someone's going to need to take care of me," Scott scoffed. "If he does anything—"

"Like?"

"Anything weird or bizarre—" Scott shrugged. "Anything."

"Anything evil," Stiles interjected loudly.

Olivia rolled her eyes and reached through the bookshelf, tapping him on the forehead. He winced away from her, rubbing the spot as if she hurt him. She took the iPad from Scott and casually walked down the aisle toward Allison, handing her the tablet so the cameras wouldn't see.

"All right," she sighed. "We have work to do."

Despite the fact that Olivia practically begged her to spill the beans about Jackson's biological parents, Lydia was not budging. Quite honestly, Olivia was shocked that Lydia was refusing her. She had really thought that Lydia would tell her about what happened to them—she had even refused to take Stiles along with her and she actually wanted to spend sometime with his spastic self.

"I'm not supposed to tell anyone," Lydia repeated herself as they walked down the hallway.

"Come on, Lydia," Olivia sighed. "You know why I need to know. This is really important."

"And I want to help but I swore to Jackson that I wouldn't tell anyone," Lydia insisted. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you, Liv."

"Okay, then give me a hint," Olivia begged. "Were they mugged? Double suicide? Homicide and suicide? Double homicide?"

"You need to stop spending so much time with Stiles," Lydia rolled her eyes. "I've got to get to class. Sorry, Liv."

"Lydia, wait!" Olivia called as Lydia walked off toward her history class. "Would you please just tell me? Lydia!"

But Lydia only ignored her, disappearing through the crowded hallway.

Olivia was abruptly grabbed by the arm and pulled to the side of the hallway that happened to be empty. She groaned when she saw Erica, who she hadn't spoken to in a couple of days. She hadn't even talked to Derek, though she did exchange a few text messages with Isaac, telling him that she needed some time until she came back to the pack.

"Hey, Erica," she greeted the blonde with a sigh.

"Liv," Erica smiled sweetly. "Why are you asking Lydia about Jackson's bio-parents?"

"No reason, really," Olivia shrugged, keeping her face clear of emotion. She was a great liar but Erica could hear her heartbeat so she would know anyway.

"Mmhm, sure," Erica hummed. "Now, how about you tell me the truth?"

"How about you get your hands off of her?" Stiles suggested, his voice hard. He had popped out of nowhere but Olivia was still glad to see him. He looked kind of hot when he was being all forceful.

Erica pursed her lips and let go of Olivia's arm. Stiles quickly grabbed Olivia's hand and started to pull her away from the werewolf, leading her down the hallway.

"If you're wondering about Jackson's real parents, they're about half a mile from here," Erica called after them, catching their attention. "In Beacon Hills Cemetery."

Olivia pressed her lips together and turned back to Erica. "How do you know that?"

Erica simply smirked at her and walked away. Olivia and Stiles exchanged an annoyed look and started following her, shoving past a few of their classmates who were standing in their way.

"Erica, do you know how they died?" Olivia asked as they caught up with her.

"Maybe," Erica shrugged. "If you tell me why you're so interested."

"Uh—"

"It's him, isn't it?" Erica studied Stiles' hesitant face.

"What?" Stiles asked awkwardly. "Who? Him, who?"

"The test didn't work but it's still him," she hummed thoughtfully. "It's Jackson."

"Yeah, it is," Olivia confirmed, ignoring Stiles' wide-eyed look. "but Derek knew that anyway."

Erica hummed.

"There's a lot more to this that you don't know about," Stiles told Erica. "And just because you got the alpha-bite-makeover doesn't give you a license to go around destroying people."

Olivia paused halfway down the hallway, rubbing her temple as her mind practically buzzed. She turned down the hallway that led to the locker room, following the voices that whispered names to her.

_Allison. Scott. Jackson. Allison. Scott. Jackson. _

"Why not?" Erica whipped around to face him. "That's all anybody ever used to do to me. I used to have the worst crush in the world on you. Yeah, you, Stiles, and you never once even noticed me."

Stiles had heard what Erica was saying and he was really flattered but he had to admit he wasn't paying much attention. His focus was on Olivia and her purple eyes as she walked down the hallway on autopilot. He wasn't even sure if she knew where she was going.

Erica sighed, seeing that Stiles was looking at Olivia. "Exactly how you're not noticing me right now."

As if the universe wanted Erica to know that Stiles and Olivia were distracted by something more important, the boys' locker room door flew open. Scott was thrown through the open doorway with Jackson right behind him.

Olivia, Erica, and Stiles lunged forward, trying to separate the two of them. Stiles and Olivia grabbed Scott, holding him back from Jackson, who was being wrangled by Erica. Allison stepped out of the locker room, looking at the two boys in horror.

"Scott, stop!" Stiles urged Scott, who was still fighting him. "Stop!"

"Guys!" Olivia shouted, grabbing onto Scott's hand, her eyes flashing purple.

In an instant, Scott stopped fighting, breathing heavily as he calmed down. Jackson was still struggling to get out of Erica's hold, not affected by Olivia's voice like Scott was.

"What the hell is going on?" a new voice boomed through the hallway.

Olivia and the others turned to see that Mr. Harris, along with a couple of their classmates, had come to see what the commotion was about.

"Enough!" Mr. Harris yelled. "What do you idiots think you're doing. Jackson, calm down!"

Jackson gritted his teeth and pushed away from Erica, though he did stop trying to lunge at Scott. Mr. Harris looked around at Olivia, Jackson, Erica, Stiles, Allison, and Scott, wondering what was going on.

"Mr. McCall, you wanna explain yourself?" he turned to Scott and Stiles as Olivia stepped away from him, her eyes back to their normal cobalt blue. "Stilinski?"

Matt Daehler, a guy that had always given Olivia the creeps, stepped forward, holding the iPad she had let Allison borrow. "You dropped this."

Mr. Harris ripped it away from him. "You and you," he pointed at Jackson and Scott before waving his hand at Olivia, Stiles, Erica, Allison, and Matt. "Actually, all of you—detention, three o'clock."

Olivia sighed in defeat as Mr. Harris handed her the iPad. There went her perfect record for having no detentions.

For the second time that day, Olivia walked into the library. This time, she was in a single file line with her peers, ready to begin her first ever detention since the day was over. She was annoyed that she was even there, especially since Lydia had teased her about it for a full five minutes at lunch.

She quickly took a seat at the nearest table. Scott, Stiles, and Erica joined her, sitting down in the rest of the empty seats.

"Oh, uh, we can't be in detention together," Jackson spoke up smugly. "I have a restraining order against these tools."

Mr. Harris gave him an annoyed look. "All of these tools?"

"No, just us tools," Stiles gestured to himself and Scott.

"Fine," Mr. Harris sighed and pointed to the empty table across from Olivia's. "You two, over there."

Olivia smiled slightly and shrugged when Stiles gave her a pleading look; there wasn't anything she could do about their seating arrangements. Stiles pouted and stood up, following Scott over to the next table.

"I'm gonna kill him," Scott declared quietly as they sat down.

"No, you're not," Stiles sighed. "You're going to find out who's controlling him and then you're gonna help save him."

_When did I become the voice of reason?_ He asked himself.

"No, you were right," Scott shook his head, sending Jackson a nasty glare. "Let's kill him."

Stiles palmed his forehead, hoping that Scott would calm down soon. Normally he was the one with the temper and other than Scott was out of control, he didn't have much of one. In fact, usually Scott was the calmest guy he knew.

Scott fell silent and continued to glare at Jackson. Stiles was pretty sure that he hadn't blinked once, which couldn't be good for the health of his eyes. Didn't people need to blink so their eyes could be hydrated?

Stiles' eyes flitted across the room, taking in what an empty library looked like. He didn't come here much, especially since he did most of his research at home with his MacBook. He glanced at Olivia, who was working on her calculus homework and then over at Allison and Jackson's table where Matt was eating some chips.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him; he was so fucking annoying. His eyes annoyed Stiles. His hair annoyed Stiles. The way he would always take pictures annoyed Stiles. Everything about Matt Daehler annoyed him. There was just something so sketchy about him.

"Hey," Stiles whispered to Scott. "What if it's Matt? I mean, this whole thing comes back to the video, right?"

"Danny said that Matt was the one who found the two hours of footage missing," Scott told him.

"Exactly!" Stiles exclaimed quietly as he and Scott looked back over at Matt. "He was trying to throw suspicion off himself."

Scott looked back at him, skeptical. "So he makes Jackson kill Isaac's dad, one of Argent's hunters, and the mechanic working on your Jeep?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Because he's evil," Stiles said obviously.

"You just don't like him," Scott accused.

"The guy bugs me," Stiles admitted, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know what it is. Just look at his face."

They both looked back at Matt, who was now offering Jackson some of his chips.

Scott pressed his lips together and gave Stiles a pointed look. "Any other theories?"

Stiles sighed heavily and rolled his eyes at him. He still thought that he was right. If it happened to be true, he was gonna tell Scott I-told-you-so. Yes, he was that petty.

"You okay?" Matt asked, catching the attention of everyone.

Stiles and Scott looked over just in time to see Jackson get out of his seat, holding his head like he had a massive headache.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Jackson mumbled.

Mr. Harris stood up, concerned. "Are you all right?" he walked over to Jackson. "Hey, you don't look so good."

"I just have to get some water," Jackson gasped as he walked out of the room, everyone's eyes following him.

Mr. Harris looked back at the others. "No one leaves their seats," he warned them before leaving the library to go after Jackson.

Of course, that was exactly what Stiles and Scott did as the door shut behind the chemistry teacher. They stumbled over to Olivia and Erica's table, taking the seats across from them.

"Stiles told me you know how Jackson's parents died," Scott confronted Erica.

"Maybe," Erica confirmed coyly.

Scott's eyes hardened. "Talk."

Erica closed the journal she had been writing in. "It was a car accident," she explained. "My dad was the insurance investigator and every time he sees Jackson drive by in his Porsche, he makes some comment about the huge settlement he'll be getting when he's eighteen."

"So, not only is Jackson rich now but he's getting even richer at eighteen?" Stiles commented dryly.

Erica nodded. "Yep."

"There's something so deeply wrong with that," he grumped, making Olivia snort in amusement and send him a small smile.

His chest puffed up at that, glad that he got that reaction from her.

"You know what, I could try to find the insurance report on my dad's inbox," Erica offered, opening up her MacBook. "He keeps everything."

"Scott McCall, please report to the principal's office," the overhead speaker announced, sounding scarily like Mrs. Argent.

Olivia gave Scott a sympathetic look and Stiles winced as he stood up and sheepishly left the library. Luckily, it didn't take long for Erica to find the report. She quickly pulled it up and showed it to Olivia and Stiles, allowing them to read through it.

"Woah, look at the dates," Stiles pointed to the screen.

"_Passengers arrived at the hospital D.O.A_," Erica read. "_The estimated time of death—9:26 P.M, June 14, 1995."_

Olivia's eyes widened in horror. "Jackson's birthday is June fifteenth," she informed Stiles and Erica. "Which means that he was born while his birth mother was dead."

Olivia could understand how that would fuck up any person. Now she knew why Jackson was so upset about his adoption. That was a horrible way for someone to be born—or to die, honestly—and it couldn't be easy when he found out at the age of six.

Jackson and Mr. Harris arrived back in the library, Jackson sitting down in his seat without a word. Mr. Harris gathered his bag and walked over to the door, stopping when everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry," he chuckled mockingly. "Uh, yes, I'm leaving, but none of you are. You may go when you're done with the re-shelving. Enjoy the rest of your evening."

He pointed to the two large carts beside him, full of books that looked to be out of order. He smirked at them before leaving the library; they could hear his laughter as he walked away.

"What a dick," Stiles grumbled, standing up.

"Tell me about it," Olivia sighed, closing her calculus notebook and following him over to one of the carts.

Allison joined them and the three of them pushed the cart over to one of the aisles to start sorting. Erica took her own pile of books and started putting them away, while Jackson and Matt worked on the other carts.

As Scott came back from the office, having received a lecture from Mrs. Argent, Olivia and Stiles quickly informed them what they found out about Jackson and his parents' deaths.

"Wait, so what does that mean?" Allison asked quietly after Stiles finished.

"It means that he was born after his birth mom died," Olivia whispered. "by C-section. They had to pull him out of her dead body."

"So, was it an accident or not?" Allison wondered.

"The report said that it was inconclusive," Stiles told them.

"Then his parents could have been murdered?" Scott asked.

"If they were, then it falls in line with the kanima myth," Olivia nodded. "It seeks out and kills murderers."

"But for Jackson or the person controlling him?" Allison brought up a good point.

Scott shook his head. "We have to talk to him," he declared. "We have to tell him."

As he left the aisle to talk to Jackson, Allison called after him, "He's not gonna listen—"

Olivia winced heavily as a jolt of pain zapped through her body. She bent at the waist, holding her head in her hands as the whispers she usually got were growing louder. She squeezed her hands against her ears, hoping to drown them out but it did nothing.

_SCOTT. ALLISON. ERICA. JACKSON. STILES. SCOTT. ALLISON. ERICA. JACKSON. STILES. OLIVIA. OLIVIA. OLIVIA. _

"Livvy, what's wrong?" Stiles grabbed her so she wouldn't collapse from the pain. "Livvy…?"

"GET DOWN!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the library.

At that moment, the kanima jumped up into the ceiling tiles, breaking the glass sheet that encased the lights and making them spark. While the kanima continued bounding around the room, destroying books and knocking over bookshelves, Stiles grabbed Allison and Olivia and covered them as they fell to the floor.

"Erica!" Scott shouted in warning.

Erica growled at the kanima but it didn't scare him; he slashed at the back of her neck, sending her to the ground.

Olivia winced and groaned loudly, the back of her neck tingling.

_ERICA. ERICA. ERICA. _

Scott hopped back into the aisle where Stiles, Olivia, and Allison were, jumping in front of them so he could protect them if necessary. Olivia still had her head on the floor, whimpering as she covered her ears but Stiles, Scott, and Allison watched as Jackson—half turned into the kanima—walked toward the rollaway chalk board and wrote a message with his claws.

_Get out of the way or I'll kill all of you._

Jackson turned back to the full kanima and jumped out of one of the windows at the top of the way, raining glass down onto the bookshelves and floor.

"Livvy, it's okay, he's gone," Stiles whispered, trying to coax Olivia off the floor.

It wasn't over, though. Not for Olivia and not for Erica. She could still hear her name in her head. Something had to be wrong with her.

Olivia shook her head and pulled her hands away from her ears, shocked to see that they had been bleeding. She ignored that for now and scrambled to her feet, running over to the next aisle.

She was right, something was wrong with Erica. She was seizing on the ground, her healing not kicking in. Stiles pushed past Olivia and joined Erica, holding her on her side so she wouldn't get more hurt.

"Hey, hey!" Stiles called over to Scott and Allison. "I think she's having a seizure."

Scott went to kneel on the other side of Erica and Allison went to the next aisle over, checking to see if Matt was okay.

"He's alive," Allison sighed in relief.

"Hey, we need to get her to a hospital," Stiles suggested.

"No," Olivia spoke up; she knew that a hospital wouldn't be able to help Erica. "We need to take her to Derek."

"When we get her to the hospital—"

"No, to Derek," Erica choked out, in agreement with Olivia.

"Let's go," Olivia urged.

Scott didn't seem to care about the urgency in her voice. He ran over to Allison to tell her that he was staying with her, completely ignoring the situation with Erica.

"Scott, come on!" Olivia called, frustrated, as she went to help Stiles get Erica off the floor.

"Scott!"

After Scott dramatically said goodbye to Allison, Scott joined them and picked Erica up in his arms. The three of them raced out of the library, hoping that they could get to Derek on time.

Derek quickly lead Olivia, Stiles, Scott, and Erica into the train car where he slept. He pointed to an empty spot on the floor and Scott laid her down, kneeling right next to her. Derek knelt on her other side, quickly inspecting her, while Stiles pulled Olivia into his side.

"Hold her up," Derek ordered Scott.

Scott pulled Erica onto his lap so Derek could have easier access to her.

"Is she dying?" Stiles asked, panicked.

"She might," Derek's voice was just as panicked, his eyes darting over Erica's body. "Which is why this is gonna hurt."

He firmly wrapped his hands around Erica's arm and jerked. The bones in her arms snapped loudly, causing her to scream at the top of her lungs. Olivia whimpered and buried her head into Stiles' chest, wishing that the whispers in her head would stop.

"You broke her arm?" Stiles asked incredulously.

"It'll trigger the healing," Derek wasn't pleased that he was questioning him. "I still gotta get the venom out. This is where it's really gonna hurt."

He squeezed Erica's broken arm, allowing some of her blood to drip onto the floor. Erica screamed again, louder this time. It felt like Olivia's ears were going to burst.

Finally, Erica's pain subsided and with it, the whispers in Olivia's head. She pulled away from Stiles' chest and sighed in relief as Erica flopped back into Scott, completely exhausted.

"Thank you," Erica breathed before promptly passing out.

Derek gently grabbed her from Scott and laid her on his bed. He made sure she was comfortable before leaving the car, gesturing for Olivia, Stiles, and Scott to follow him out.

"You know who it is," Scott confronted him before he could speak a word.

Derek sat on the large trunk on the other side of the room. "Jackson."

"You just wanted Erica to confirm it, didn't you?" Olivia whispered hoarsely.

Derek nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm gonna help you stop him," Scott decided, furrowing his eyebrows at Derek. "As part of your pack. If you want me in, fine, but we'll do it on one condition."

Derek raised his eyebrows in question.

"We're gonna catch him, not kill him."

"And?"

"And we do it my way," Scott declared.

It was silent for a few seconds before Derek agreed, "Fine," he said grudgingly. "Now leave, I want to talk to Olivia."

"What for?" Stiles asked suspiciously.

Derek glared at him. "None of your business."

Stiles narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, probably about to spout some sarcastic comment or nasty insult but Olivia nudged him. She gave him a meaningful look when he glanced at her and then nodded to the door.

"It's fine," she whispered. "He'll drive me home."

"I'm not happy about this," Stiles stated loudly as Scott grabbed the hood of his sweatshirt and started pulling him away from her. "This is not nice, Livvy. Okay, Scott, jeeze. Call me when you're done!"

The door shut behind them, silencing the station.

Olivia looked at Derek expectantly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Two things," Derek sighed, his face softening from the glare he gave Stiles. "First, I wanted to apologize to you about trying to kill Lydia. I should have listened to you and believed you when you said it wasn't her."

Olivia nodded. "You should have."

"Well, I'm sorry," Derek apologized. "It was wrong to go after her and I'm glad that it wasn't her."

Olivia gave him a small smile. "You're forgiven. Just don't try to kill her again."

"I won't."

"What's the other thing that you wanted to talk about?"

"I was hoping you would tell me, Ollie," Derek gave her a concerned look. "What's going on with you?"

Olivia bowed her head, pressing her lips together. Truthfully, she had no idea. All she knew was that the feelings she had been getting were the worst she had ever had. And it scared the shit out of her.

"I don't know," she looked back up at him with fearful eyes. "but I'm scared, Derek. Really scared."

"I know," he pulled her into a hug; she buried her head into his chest, inhaling his comforting scent. "It's okay, Ollie. We'll figure it out."

She really hoped so.


	20. The Spark

**[2x08; Raving]**

"Oh, what the hell is this?"

Stiles looked up from where he was putting together his salad, immediately noticing the disgruntled look on his dad's face as he frowned at the burger in his hands.

"Veggie burger," Stiles sang, picking up his soda to take a sip.

Noah gave him an unimpressed look. "Stiles, I asked for a hamburger."

"Well, veggie is healthier," Stiles countered, pointing at his salad. "We're being healthy."

Noah sighed and opened the carton next to his sandwich, expecting fries. When he saw the pieces of carrots and celery, he sighed heavily, "Why are you trying to ruin my life?"

"I'm trying to extend it, okay?" Stiles rolled his eyes. "Could you just eat it, please, and tell me what you found?"

"No," Noah said indignantly. "I'm not sharing confidential police work with a teenager."

Stiles took another sip of his drink, his eyes flickering past his dad to the board behind him. It was a typical crime board, with pictures of the victims, reports, and evidence all connected by strings. "Is that it on the board behind you?"

Noah looked back at it for only a second, a look of frustration on his face. "Don't look at that."

Stiles strained his neck in order to see around his father, taking in all the information that he could make out.

"Avert your eyes," Noah demanded; Stiles kept on looking. "Hey!"

"Just, it's just—" Stiles used his arms to hover off his chair to see better. "I see arrows pointing at pictures."

"Okay, okay, stop, fine," Noah sighed heavily and Stiles looked at him with wide, attentive eyes. "I found something. The mechanic and the couple who were murdered, they all had something in common."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "All three?"

"Yeah," Noah confirmed. "and you know what I always say. One's an incident, two's coincidence—"

"Three's a pattern," Stiles finished.

"The mechanic, the husband, the wife," Noah listed. "all the same age. All twenty-four."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Wait, what about Mr. Lahey? I mean, Isaac's dad isn't anywhere near twenty-four."

Noah nodded. "Which made me think that either Lahey's murder wasn't connected or the ages were a coincidence," he pulled a file from his desk and handed it over to Stiles. "Did you know that Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Camden?"

Stiles did not know that but he wasn't exactly Isaac's friend so he wouldn't know intimate details about the blonde werewolf's life. Then, when he read what was stamped in large red letters on the first page of the file, he felt a little hint of unwanted sympathy for him.

"_Died in combat_," he read.

"But, if he were alive today, take one guess as to how old he'd be."

Stiles looked from the file to his dad. "Twenty-four."

"Twenty-four."

Stiles pressed his lips together and stood up, abandoning his food to get a better look at the evidence board. Noah let him explore, standing next to him as he did his own thinking.

"Okay, what if same age means same class," Stiles spoke up, looking over at his dad. "I mean, did you think of that?"

"Yeah…" Noah said flippantly before correcting himself, "Well, I would've. I mean, look, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago."

"Two hours?" Stiles gave him a look of disbelief. "Dad, people could be dying!"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that, thank you!" Noah snapped and focused back on the board. "Same class…"

Within minutes, the two Stilinski men had all the school files and records that they could get their hands on. It wasn't hard to get class rosters and old yearbooks but it was the transcripts that they couldn't receive without a warrant. It didn't matter, though, they didn't really need more than the rosters.

Stiles looked through the folders and paused when he saw the correct one. "Okay, this is it," he told Noah. "Class of 2006. They all went to Beacon Hills."

Noah pointed at one of the names in the file. "Including Isaac's brother."

"All right, so what if they all knew each other, you know?" Stiles mused; he hoped that he and Scott were still friends by the time they were twenty-four. "I mean, two of them were married so maybe they all just hung out."

Noah nodded and continued going through the file. "They could've had the same classes together, they could've—"

Stiles gave him a curious look when he stopped talking, looking down at the paper he found in concentration. "What?"

"Same teacher," Noah finished, pointing out the class roster.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the picture on top of the roster. "Harris," he sighed; why was this guy always so sketchy? "They were all in his class?"

"All four," Noah confirmed. "Now, I don't know how Mr. Lahey fits in but this—kid, this is definitely a pattern."

Stiles nodded in agreement.

"All right, give me the 2006 yearbook," Noa requested. "These names, we need faces."

Stiles rummaged through the stack of old yearbooks that had been brought in. He found the 2006 yearbook rather quickly and handed it to his dad.

"Which ones?" he asked as Noah flipped through the book.

"Everyone in that chemistry class," Noah stated. "If the killer's not done killing—"

"One of them is next," Stiles finished.

Noah nodded gravely, picking up his phone to ask for more evidence.

Olivia shoved her hands into the pockets of her canvas jacket, hiding them from the crisp evening air. She walked with Derek and Isaac through the parking lot of the animal clinic, hoping that this meeting with Scott and Dr. Deaton wasn't going to be tense. They were all working together now, so there was no reason to be hostile.

They were meeting with Scott and Dr. Deaton to find a way to save Jackson. Dr. Deaton was apparently full of supernatural knowledge and Scott was representing his make-shift pack, so that left Derek, Olivia, and Isaac to represent the Hale pack as the first three members.

As they approached the clinic, Scott unlocked the door. He greeted Olivia with a smile that fell slightly when he saw Derek and went away completely when he saw Isaac trailing after them.

"What's he doing here?" he asked tensely as he allowed Olivia into the clinic.

"I need him," Derek briskly walked past Scott.

Scott narrowed his eyes at Isaac as he walked into the clinic. "I don't trust him."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't trust you, either," Isaac replied casually.

Derek turned to the younger betas with a glare. "And Derek really doesn't care."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Can you stop talking in third person?" she asked, exasperated. "We're working together now, so you guys can get over your little spat."

Scott and Isaac gave each other dark looks.

"Got it?" Olivia demanded, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Yes."

"Yeah, sorry."

Derek rolled his eyes as Isaac and Scott sheepishly lowered their gazes from each other. "Okay, where's the vet?" he asked Scott. "Is he gonna help us or not?"

"That depends," Dr. Deaton walked into the room like he was waiting for his cue. "Your friend, Jackson, are we planning to kill him or save him?"

"Kill him."

"We're going to save him."

"Save him."

Derek, Olivia, and Scott spoke respectively. Olivia and Scott immediately gave Derek a pointed look, which had Derek sighing.

"Save him," the three of them said together, looking to Dr. Deaton.

Dr. Deaton invited them into his main exam room. As the four of them entered, he pulled a platter of jars out of a cabinet and set it on the stainless-steel counter. They were all labeled differently, with various herbs or plants tightly sealed within them.

Isaac reached for one of the jars but Derek quickly grabbed his hand to stop him. "Watch what you touch."

Isaac took his hand back and rested his forearms on the counter, looking up at Dr. Deaton with curious eyes. "So, what are you, some kind of witch?"

Dr. Deaton blinked at him. "No, I'm a veterinarian," he said plainly as he began looking through his jars; Olivia smiled, amused. "Unfortunately, I don't see anything here that's going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin."

"We're open to suggestions," Derek told him.

"What about an effective offense?" Isaac wondered.

"We already tried," Derek crossed his arms over his chest. "I nearly took its head off and Argent emptied an entire clip into it. The thing just gets back up."

Dr. Deaton furrowed his eyebrows. "Has it shown any weaknesses?"

"Well, one," Derek confirmed. "It can't swim."

"Does that go for Jackson as well?"

"No," Olivia shook her head. "He's going to be captain of the swim team next year."

Dr. Deaton nodded and hummed. "Essentially, you're trying to catch two people," he turned from the counter to rummage through one of the drawers by the sink. He turned back to them, a coin in his hand. "A puppet and a puppeteer—" he set the coin on the steel counter. "one killed the husband but the other had to take care of the wife. Do we know why?"

"I don't think Jackson could do it," Scott said thoughtfully. "His mother died pregnant, too, and she was maybe murdered. I think he couldn't let the same thing happen to someone else."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Okay, but what if it's not part of the rules?" when all eyes went to her, she explained, "the kanima kills murderers. If Jackson killed the wife, the baby would have died, too."

Isaac nodded in agreement. "That makes sense."

"Does that mean your father was a murderer?" Scott asked Isaac.

Olivia pressed her lips together; if the man was capable of abusing his son, he was more than likely capable of murder.

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "It wouldn't surprise me if he was."

Dr. Deaton, who had been silently thinking while Olivia, Isaac, and Scott had their exchange, spoke up. "Hold on, the book says they're bonded, right?" Derek nodded at him. "What if the fear of water isn't coming from Jackson but from the person controlling him?"

He grabbed a jar of black ash and opened it. "What if something that affects the kanima," he sprinkled the ash around the coin representing the person controlling Jackson. "also affects its master?"

Olivia's face lit up in realization. If they could catch the kanima, they could catch the person controlling him. Finally, a break-through.

Isaac hadn't caught on like Olivia, Scott, and Derek had. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning we can catch them," Scott told him. "Both of them."

Stiles sped through the parking lot, wincing when he saw that they were three minutes later to meet up with Olivia outside of the school. Olivia hated being late to anything, so for her, that meant being twenty minutes early to school—in comparison, Stiles strolled in with enough time to visit his locker before rushing to class. Stiles didn't want to face her ire, even if it was really hot sometimes.

"You're gonna get in trouble with the parking officer," Scott told Stiles as he hurriedly turned into the front row to look for a parking spot. "Liv can wait a couple of minutes."

"Okay, first of all, Dale and I are buds," Stiles rolled his eyes before continuing his search for an empty spot. "and secondly, Livvy hates being late for class. It's like a control thing or something."

His eyes lit up when he saw an empty spot. He rapidly turned the steering wheel, swinging into place and changing the gear to park.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Scott admitted, nodding toward the windshield.

Stiles followed his gaze, his lips quirking when he saw Olivia standing in front of the Jeep, her arms crossed over her chest—which gave him a fantastic view of her cleavage—a frustrated look on her face, and her right foot tapping impatiently on the sidewalk.

Stiles jumped out of the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind him. "Good morning, beautiful!"

Olivia's face softened at the grin on his face. "Morning," she greeted both him and Scott. "You said you were gonna meet me five minutes ago."

"Yeah, sorry about that," he gave her an apologetic smile.

"It's fine," Olivia rolled her eyes fondly, leaving Scott shocked. He knew that she liked Stiles but this was a complete one-eighty with the way she used to get onto them when they were late meeting up with her.

Olivia turned her gaze to Scott. "Did you get the tickets to the rave?"

"No," Scott sighed heavily. "They were seventy-five bucks."

"Did you?" Stiles asked her.

"Lydia gave me hers," Olivia nodded and gave them an apologetic smile. "I only have one, though…"

"Ugh," Scott groaned, slipping his backpack onto his shoulders. "there's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?"

Olivia twisted her lips while Stiles shook his head. "It's a secret show. There's only one way and it's a secret."

"Hey!"

The three of them turned toward the voice calling to them. Stiles scowled heavily when he saw that it was Matt Daehler.

"Do any of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?" he asked them.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Just forget about it. Nobody got hurt."

"I had a concussion," Matt informed him.

"Well, nobody got _seriously_ hurt."

"I was in the emergency room for six hours," Matt said indignantly.

_Fuck this guy_, Stiles thought, _we have more serious problems than the bump on his head._

"Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt?" Stiles' voice grew hard. "Your little bump on the head is about this—" he bent toward the sidewalk, holding his hand an inch away from the concrete. "high on our list of problems right now."

Olivia sighed and grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him back up to his natural height.

Scott turned to Matt, trying to make up for Stiles' crankiness. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Matt gave Stiles a weird look before turning back to Scott. "So, you didn't get any tickets last night, either?"

Scott shook his head. "Are they still selling?"

"Uh, no, but I managed to find two online," Matt informed him. "You should keep trying, it sounds like everyone's gonna be there."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek as Matt turned and walked away from them. She didn't know why but he gave her the creeps. Like, he was creepier than anyone she had ever met in her life.

"I don't like him," Stiles glared at Matt's back and then turned to Olivia and Scott. "Hey, are you guys sure about this?"

"Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job," Scott said as the three of them walked into the school. "So, what do you think he's going to do this time?"

"Be there to make sure it happens," Stiles answered; Scott nodded. "Okay, but as of right now, we won't even be able to get into the rave."

Olivia's eyes raked up and down the hallway, looking for a sign that someone had some extra tickets to the rave. To her absolute luck, she saw two freshman boys showing their tickets to each other, huge grins on their faces.

"I'll get you the tickets," she spoke up, catching Stiles and Scott's attention.

"What?" Stiles raised his eyebrows. "They're sold out."

Olivia smiled sweetly and pointedly looked over to the freshmen. The pieces of the puzzle fit together quickly for Stiles, who immediately started to protest.

"No," he shook his head firmly. "No, no, no. You're not gonna go out with a freshman, Olivia!"

Olivia gave him an amused look, secretly happy that he was reacting like this. "Who said anything about going on a date?"

She walked away before Stiles could object any more, her hips swaying seductively as she made her way to the two freshmen boys. Stiles watched, an angry look on his face, as Olivia smiled sweetly at them.

"Wow," Scott raised his eyebrows in appreciation as Olivia playfully patted one of the boys on the stomach, a flirty look on her face. "Who knew Olivia could flirt?"

Stiles scowled. "Shut up."

"She's really going for it."

Stiles turned his glare on Scott, who looked very amused about Stiles' anger. "Seriously?"

"What?" Scott shrugged innocently, seeing Olivia start back over to him from the corner of his eye. "I'm just saying—"

"Well, I'm saying shut the fuck up," Stiles snapped causing Scott to grin widely.

"Why are you being mean to Scott?" Olivia asked; Stiles whipped around to face her, not having known she was right there.

"I-I wasn't being mean to Scott," Stiles tried to defend himself while Scott stuck out his tongue at him.

Olivia hummed, rolling her eyes. "Here," she handed them the two tickets she managed to score off the freshmen. "Two tickets to the rave."

Scott studied the ticket and gave her a grateful smile. "Plan Save-Jackson is a go."

After school, Stiles and Scott stopped by the animal clinic to pick up some supplies from Dr. Deaton. The veterinarian would supply something to calm Jackson down and then something to trap both him _and_ his master at the rave. When they arrived, Dr. Deaton presented them with a small vial of clear liquid.

Scott read the label. "Ketamine?"

Dr. Deaton nodded. "It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage," he explained. "If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time."

He handed the vial of medicine and a large needle to Scott before grabbing a jar of black ash.

"This is some of what you'll use to create the barrier," he told them before gesturing to Stiles. "This part is for you, Stiles. Only you."

Stiles grimaced. "Uh, that sounds like a lot of pressure," he picked up the jar to study the contents. "Can we maybe find a slightly less pressure-filled task for me?"

Scott gave him a pointed look but Stiles just shrugged defensively.

"It's from the mountain ash tree which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural," Dr. Deaton continued like Stiles hadn't objected to his task. "This office is lined with Ashwood, making it difficult for someone like Scott to cause me any trouble."

"Okay, so then what?" Stiles put the jar back on the counter. "I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson, or whoever's controlling him, can't cross it?"

"They'll be trapped."

As Stiles fidgeted nervously, Scott gave him a reassuring look. "Doesn't sound too hard."

"That's not all there is," Dr. Deaton added, looking to Stiles. "Think of it like gunpowder. It's just powder until a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles."

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that."

It was important to catch Jackson and the dickhead controlling him but Stiles wasn't about to burn to death to make that happen. He wasn't _that_ selfless—especially for Jackson's sake.

Dr. Deaton's lips quirked in amusement. "Let me try a different analogy," he offered. "I used to golf. I learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the force of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will," Stiles mumbled, nodding slightly.

"If this is going to work, Stiles, you have to believe it," Dr. Deaton raised his hands to act as if he was inhaling deeply.

Stiles hated the believe-in-yourself-and-you'll-accomplish-anything speech like he heard annually in elementary school. But, if there was ever a time to use that nonsense, it'd be today. They needed to catch the kanima and its master; there were already too many people dead.

He hummed loudly and copied Dr. Deaton's movements, showing him and Scott that he was going to cooperate.

Olivia looked up from her chemistry homework and gave Stiles a curious look. "What did he mean by being a spark?"

Stiles had come to her house after he stopped at his own home to tell her the rest of the plan. Olivia, along with Scott, Isaac, and Erica, would try to distract Jackson long enough to get the ketamine in him, Derek and Boyd would be on the lookout for the Argents, and Stiles would be creating the mountain ash barrier.

The upcoming night was a little daunting and Olivia had to admit that she was nervous about how it would all go down. There were so many moving parts and even if one thing didn't go as planned, the whole thing would fail. There was a lot riding on this and it unnerved her.

"He said I have to believe that it will work," Stiles sighed from the space next to her on the bed. Sirius was in his lap and was enjoying the scratches that he was giving him behind his ears.

Olivia was pretty sure Sirius loved Stiles more than he loved her.

"Okay," she set her pencil in her textbook to mark her page and sat up to face him head-on. "so, why are you nervous?"

"I don't know," Stiles shrugged, his eyes avoiding hers. "I guess I don't think that I'm up for it."

Olivia frowned, concerned with the embarrassed look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not like Scott or Derek or Isaac," the tip of Stiles' ears flushed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I mean, I'm human. Nothing special."

Olivia's heart ached because she wished Stiles saw himself like she saw him. Stiles wasn't useless and he was damn special. It was him who pulled her walls down from around her, it was him who bridged the gap between Olivia and Scott, and it was him who did so much research so they all could know what they were dealing with. Stiles was the one who held everyone together. He was so special to Olivia, in a way that no one has ever been before.

"Don't say that, Stiles," her voice was quiet as she reached for his hand. Sirius whined when Stiles was unable to continue petting him but Olivia paid him no mind as she intertwined her fingers with Stiles'. "You are so special."

Stiles scoffed. "To who?"

"To me."

Olivia could feel her face heating up when Stiles looked at her with wide whiskey-colored eyes. There was a little twinkle starting in his sad eyes that had her squirming. Maybe it was a little too much information about her feelings for him but he was being down on himself and she couldn't stand that.

She gathered her courage to continue. "and you're not useless, either," she pointed at him with a stern finger, knowing that he'd say something like that next. "Scott wouldn't have survived being a werewolf without you, okay? And you have a super important part of the plan. It's arguably the most important part, in my opinion."

Stiles' lips quirked slightly but there was still that sad look in his eyes.

_Something else is upsetting him_, Olivia realized.

"What else happened, Stiles?" she squeezed the hand she kept in her grasp.

Stiles was quiet for a few seconds before admitting, "My dad lost his job because of me."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Because of you?"

Stiles nodded. "Apparently having a son that stole a prisoner transport van isn't a good look for the sheriff…"

"Stiles—"

"And he didn't even yell at me," Stiles shook his head in disgust. "I got him fired and he wasn't even mad."

Olivia didn't know what to say. She wasn't good at giving advice and she was hardly in touch with her own feelings. She didn't want to make things worse for Stiles. That being said, she had the compulsion to do something. She really cared about Stiles and she hated seeing him upset.

Not knowing what else to do, Olivia leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Stiles' shoulder. Stiles buried his face in the crook of her neck as she reached for his head, soothingly running her fingers through his growing buzzcut. It was a nice hug and it was nice that they didn't really need to say anything in order to comfort each other. That was one of Olivia's favorite things about them.

She pressed a chaste kiss to Stiles' temple and smiled slightly as she felt his fingers tighten around her waist. When Stiles finally pulled away from her embrace, she gave him a sweet smile.

"Everything will be okay, Stiles," she whispered.

Stiles nodded, his eyes trailing up and down her face, spending more time around her lips. Olivia could feel the tension in the room and she had to admit that she wanted him to kiss her but maybe this wasn't the right time.

Thankfully, the universe agreed. Olivia's bedroom door swung right open, revealing Lydia in her pajama-clad glory. Olivia and Stiles jumped away from each other, trying to act casual.

Lydia grinned widely at them as Sirius jumped off the bed to greet her. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Olivia rolled her eyes and climbed off her bed. "What did you need Lydia?" she asked, grabbing her homework from the bed to set it on her desk. "Were you looking for more kids to make your soup?"

Lydia scoffed playfully. "Bitch."

"Witch."

"I just came to remind you that the rave was starting soon," Lydia said coyly. "Weren't you guys supposed to go to that?"

"Right," Stiles hurriedly stood up, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "Livvy, you should get dressed so we can go pick up Scott."

Olivia nodded while Lydia raised an eyebrow at him. "Scott's going on your date with you?"

"It's not a date," Stiles and Olivia said at the same time—almost too quickly—before giving each other awkward looks.

"Anyway…" Stiles muttered. "I'll be downstairs."

Olivia nodded and Lydia smirked at her while Stiles left the room with Sirius on his heels. She waved mockingly at her before shutting the door, making Olivia sigh heavily.

Twenty minutes later, Olivia was appropriately dressed in lacy black shorts, a white tank top, and a black bralette with her hair pulled back into a French braid. Thirty minutes later, they had picked up Scott and were on their way to the Iron Works where the rave was taking place. The car ride was dead silent but luckily, they pulled up to the warehouse.

Scott gave Stiles a worried look as the three of them got out of the Jeep. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded. "Why?"

"You just didn't say anything the whole way here," Scott pointed out while looking at Olivia for a hint about what was going on.

Olivia just shrugged; if Stiles wanted to tell Scott what was going on, he would have.

"No, I'm fine," Stiles opened up the hatch and picked up one of the large bags of mountain ash. "Just grab the other bag."

"I can't, remember?" Scott reminded him. "Deaton said you have to do it alone."

Stiles sighed heavily. "Okay, this plan is really starting to suck."

Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. "Call if you need help, all right?"

Stiles nodded and grabbed the other bag before closing the hatch. Out of nowhere, Scott perked up, glaring toward the warehouse that already seemed to be full. The rave was in full swing.

"Not here," he grumbled. "Not now."

"What?" Stiles gave him a confused look but Scott just took off into the warehouse. "Scott, wait! What am I supposed to do?"

Since Scott was gone, it was up to Olivia to reassure him. "Just do what Dr. Deaton said, okay?" she grabbed both of his arms to steady him. "You can do this, Stiles."

"I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Olivia repeated herself. "I'm going inside now, so you have to do this, okay?"

Stiles nodded but what came out of his mouth wasn't assuring. "This plan officially sucks."

"Sorry, sweet-cheeks," Olivia pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before walking away from him. She missed seeing the furious blush raising on his cheeks but she somehow knew it was there.

Olivia showed her ticket to the bouncer at the door and walked into the thick of the party. Lights were blasting, music was blaring, and most of the people in attendance were having fun with their friends, but Olivia didn't feel comfortable like most of them. She didn't like parties to begin with and now, with everything that was supposed to go down tonight, it felt like her heart was about to beat straight out of her chest.

She quickly met up with Isaac and Erica.

"You look great, Erica!" she complimented her packmate. Her white graphic tank-top was really nice, especially under some of the neon lights.

"You too, Liv!"

They started to look through the crowd for Jackson but it was only a moment or so later that Scott approached them with the ketamine and needle. He pulled Olivia and Isaac aside as Erica kept a look-out and explained that Isaac needed to inject Jackson with the medication since the Argents were here to capture and presumably kill Jackson.

"Why me?" Isaac asked, taking the needle and vial from Scott.

"Because I have to make sure that Argent doesn't completely ruin the plan," Scott told him. "Okay, you better do it intravenously, which means in the vein. When you find him, you pull back on the plunger there," he pointed to the needle in Isaac's hand. "In the neck is probably gonna be the easiest."

Olivia nodded, knowing that it was important that she know that information, too, just in case Isaac forgot it in the heat of the moment.

"Find a vein, jam it in there, and pull back on the trigger," she repeated.

Scott nodded. "Just be careful."

Olivia gave him a small smile and a nod while Isaac scoffed. "Oh, I doubt it'll even slightly hurt him."

Olivia pressed her lips together and gave him a deadpan look. "Isaac, he was talking about us."

"She's right," Scott confirmed. "I don't want you guys getting hurt."

Isaac was surprised by Scott's sentiment, so he stared at him in shock.

Olivia patted Scott on the shoulder while Isaac was distracted. "You be careful, too," she told him. "Try not to get killed."

Scott rolled his eyes playfully. "Thanks for the advice, Liv."

He ran off to try to stop the Argents from getting to Jackson and Isaac turned to her.

"Why doesn't he want me to get hurt?" he asked her, confused.

"Because it's Scott," Olivia sighed. "and he's a good guy."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Olivia couldn't help but laugh a little at the lost look on his face. "Come on, we should find Jackson."

They joined back up with Erica to look for Jackson again. While they were searching, tingles started erupting all over Olivia's body. It started in her torso before it suddenly disappeared. And then it was her shoulder and then her chest and then finally, her head.

_Derek. Boyd. Scott. Derek. Boyd. Scott. _

She rubbed just below her ear as the voices started again. Derek and Boyd were supposed to be making sure nothing would interfere with their plan, so it probably meant they had joined up with Scott to distract the Argents. They were fine. _They were fine._

Her phone buzzed in her shorts and she saw that Stiles had texted her for help.

She nudged Isaac to get his attention. "You guys find Jackson," she told him; he gave her a curious look. "I need to go help Stiles."

Isaac nodded and Olivia took off, making her way out of the warehouse. She found Stiles ten feet or so away from his jeep, a handful of mountain ash left.

"Stiles?"

Stiles whipped around at her voice and sighed loudly. "Oh, thank God," he muttered. "Scott wouldn't pick up and I've got, like, fifty feet of ash left…"

"Okay."

"and I've been hearing gunfire," Stiles continued, his voice wavering anxiously. "and I'm out of the fucking magical fairy dust and I'm all alone."

"Stiles!" Olivia exclaimed, stepping over the mountain ash to be by his side. "You're not alone, okay? I'm here."

"Okay," Stiles nodded, his eyes softening as he looked down at her. "Okay but what about the ash? There's none left."

Olivia pressed her lips together and looked down at the line of mountain ash, only a couple feet away from them. "Dr. Deaton said you had to believe, right?" she looked back to him; Stiles nodded. "Okay, so believe that it will work."

"Uh, he said that people who golf imagined where the ball would go," he scratched his forehead.

"Okay, so then imagine," Olivia corrected herself. "Imagine that it will work, Stiles."

Stiles nodded, his eyes flitting away from her to one of the cars they were standing by. As it happened, there was a bumper sticker on the back of one of the cars with a familiar Einstein quote.

_Imagination is more important than knowledge._

"Imagine," he breathed.

Olivia watched as he exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. He started walking the rest of the way to the start of the barrier, dropping ash as he went. Olivia couldn't believe it when the ash actually covered the rest of the distance, completing the barrier successfully.

"Stiles, you did it!"

"What?" Stiles opened his eyes and looked down at the line of mountain ash. When he saw that it was one continuous line, he spun to face Olivia. "I did it!"

"I know—oop!" Olivia's exclamation was cut off as Stiles bounded over to her and picked her up, spinning her through the air. She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Sighing, he put her back down so her feet could touch the ground.

And then, his lips were on hers.

The kiss was over before either of them could process what had happened. Olivia stared up at Stiles with wide eyes, getting the same shocked look from him.

"Wha—"

"Um—"

"Yeah—"

"We should—"

"Yeah—"

"They probably have Jackson by now…"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, we should—we should get in there."

Olivia made a noise of agreement.

Stiles had kissed her and she didn't even get to enjoy the moment. To be fair, he hadn't either. It seemed like it was more of an absent-minded thing than being a planned out gesture. But, even if it wasn't the longest or most passionate kiss, it was perfect to Olivia.

They crossed the mountain ash barrier, glad that Olivia could get through it, and made their way into the warehouse. A quick text to Erica informed them that she and Isaac had Jackson sedated in one of the rooms on the right side of the building.

Since there were only three rooms to the right of the building, Olivia and Stiles found Isaac, Erica, and Jackson quickly.

Stiles opened the door and immediately flinched back when Erica lunged toward them. "Uh, no, no! It's just us," he said quickly. "Don't freak."

Erica relaxed as he shut the door behind Olivia. Olivia turned to Jackson and studied him; he was unconscious and leaned over in a metal folding chair.

"Is he okay?" she asked Isaac as she rubbed her chest; it felt like her lungs were tingling.

"Well, let's find out," Isaac said cockily, strutting over to Jackson. He flicked out his claws and was about to strike Jackson when Jackson reached out, tightly grabbing Isaac's wrist. He squeezed harshly and twisted, breaking Isaac's arm and making him fall to his knees from the pain.

_Isaac. Isaac. Isaac. _

Olivia's arm erupted into tingles; the same arm of Isaac's that Jackson was breaking. Something lit up at the back of her mind but she was too focused on Erica and Stiles ripping Isaac out of Jackson's grip to figure out what it was.

"Okay," Stiles raised his voice once Isaac was safely out of Jackson's reach. "no one does anything like that again, okay?"

"I thought the ketamine was supposed to put him out," Olivia went to Isaac's side and put a supportive hand on his back while turning to Stiles for answers.

"Yeah, well, apparently this is all we're gonna get," Stiles commented, his voice growing harsh with nerves. "So, let's just hope that whoever's controlling him just decided to show up tonight."

"I'm here," a dark, warped voice spoke up. They all turned to Jackson, his eyes open but strangely blank. "I'm right here with you."

In a show of bravery, Stiles clenched his jaw and leaned down in front of Jackson so they were eye-to-eye. "Jackson, is that you?"

"Us," Jackson continued to speak in the warped voice. "We're all here."

Olivia raised her eyebrows as Stiles looked back at her. Apparently the master did show up to the rave.

Stiles turned back to Jackson. "Are you the one killing people?"

"We are the ones killing murderers."

"So, all the people you've killed so far—"

"Deserved it," Jackson cut Stiles off.

"See, we got a little rule book that says you only go after murders," the way Stiles spoke was dark, smooth, and controlled. It was the worst timing ever, but Olivia thought that it was kind of hot.

"Anything can break if enough pressure's applied."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "All right, so the people you're killing are all murderers then?"

"All. Each. Everyone," the master confirmed through Jackson.

"Well, who did they murder?"

"Me."

Olivia stiffened, shocked by the master's statement. What did that even mean? How was someone who was supposedly murdered be controlling Jackson?

"Wait, what?" Stiles was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"They murdered me," the master's voice grew furious as Jackson's eyes started changing to a reptilian gold. "They murdered me."

Her heart racing, Olivia reached forward and grabbed the back of Stiles' sweatshirt, pulling him back to her, Isaac, and Erica.

"Okay, all right," he said quickly while Jackson slowly changed into the kanima. "More ketamine. The man needs more ketamine."

Isaac held up the empty vial. "We don't have anymore."

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. "You used the whole bottle?"

Olivia winced as scales started appearing on Jackson's face and neck. "Who cares?" she raised her voice. "Get out of here, now!"

Jackson slowly stood up and they moved.

"Go, go, go," Stiles chanted, pushing Erica and Olivia out the door, him and Isaac quickly following after them. Once he slammed the door shut behind Isaac, he urged, "Okay, find something to move in front of the door—"

He didn't get to finish his order when the kanima jumped through the wall and ran out toward the crowd.

"Fuck!" Stiles yelled. "Okay, let's go! Let's go!"

Olivia rubbed her chest again as she tried to keep up with Stiles, Erica, and Isaac. The tingles in her chest were growing almost painful and her regular whispers were turning to shouts.

_SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT._

She couldn't ignore the obvious signs anymore. When Isaac was being injured by Jackson, she felt it and heard his name. That couldn't be a coincidence, especially when she had had similar instances before. There was the time when Erica knocked out Stiles, when Derek was paralyzed by the kanima, when Erica had her seizure in the library, and more. She was somehow connected to her pack mates and she somehow knew when something bad was happening to them.

And now, something was happening to Scott. Whatever it was, was bad. Worse than usual.

_SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT. _

Olivia stumbled out of the warehouse, relieved to see Stiles talking to Derek on the other side of the mountain ash barrier.

"Derek!" she called, catching his attention.

Stiles and Derek turned to her, shocked to see her eyes glowing purple.

"Livvy, what's wrong?"

"Ollie, what's going on?"

"Scott," she whimpered as she clutched her chest, falling to her knees on the concrete. "Something's wrong with Scott."

_SCOTT. SCOTT. SCOTT. _

"Wait, what—"

Stiles question went ignored as Derek heard a loud howl come from a nearby warehouse. It was Scott's and he was in trouble just like Olivia warned him.

"Scott," he breathed in realization.

Stiles gave him a confused look. "What?"

Derek just shook his head and pointed at the barrier. "Break it."

"What?" Stiles narrowed his eyes. "No way."

"Scott's dying!"

"Okay, what? How do you know that?"

"Oh, my God, Stiles, I just know! Break it!"

"Stiles!" Olivia shouted from her place in Erica's arms. "Scott needs help."

Stiles only looked into Olivia's purple eyes for a second before bending down to break the barrier. Derek ran through and was gone in a second, looking for Scott.

Stiles stepped through the barrier and gathered Olivia up into his arms, nodding at Erica. He waited patiently for her purple eyes to disappear, hoping that would signal the end of whatever was happening to Scott.

It was five minutes later that Olivia's eyes changed back into their usual cobalt blue.


	21. Worm Moon

**[2x09; Party Guessed]**

Olivia slipped into the abandoned train station, clutching a coffee and the large file she put together to her chest. Making her way through the turnstiles, past the waiting area, and onto the platform, she stumbled her way down to the stairs that would lead her to the car that Derek and Isaac shared. It didn't surprise her when Derek slipped out of before she could enter, shrugging on a shirt with fluffy morning hair.

"What are you doing here so early, Ollie?" he yawned.

"I found something. Here," she handed him the coffee.

Derek quickly downed a large gulp, not even grimacing from the scalding liquid. "What'd you find?"

"Information," Olivia wandered over to the dirty table they kept and sat down, opening the file. "I spent the last week researching and putting together a timeline of all these abilities. "

"From when Peter bit you," Derek nodded, taking the seat across from her.

"Yeah, they first showed up when Lydia escaped from the hospital," Olivia pulled out her timeline and pushed it over to him. "and then again on the day of Isaac's first full moon, when Erica knocked out Stiles, when the kanima trapped you two in the pool…"

Derek read through the instances she could remember. "And these were all the times your eyes turned purple?"

Olivia nodded. "Every single time, someone I cared about was in danger."

"Your pack," Derek stated. "Not just your actual pack but the people you consider pack, too, like Jackson and Lydia."

"Exactly," Olivia confirmed. "And Stiles had told me that there were a few supernatural creatures with purples eyes. There were a couple of options; fairies, pixies, anchorams, and dragons."

"I think it's safe to say you're not a dragon."

Olivia smiled weakly. "So, I looked at the other options. Fairies and pixies didn't fit any of the abilities I've been having, so I narrowed it down to anchorams."

"Anchorams," Derek hummed thoughtfully. "Did you get anything on them?"

Olivia shook her head. "There wasn't a lot on the internet, so I looked in the Argent's bestiary."

"What'd you find?"

Olivia pulled out the pages she had Lydia help her translate. There wasn't a lot in the Argent bestiary, either, but there was enough to get a reading on what she actually was.

"_Anchorams, otherwise known as anchors, are caretakers of the pack_," she read. "_A sub-species of werewolf, the anchor knows when a member of their pack is in danger or injured. If the anchor is powerful enough, they will fall into a fugue state and find the pack member in distress."_

"_Anchorams' eyes glow purple when their powers are being used,"_ she continued. "_The most helpful of an anchors' powers are their ability to calm werewolves with their touch or voice."_

Olivia set down the paper and looked back at Derek for a reaction. His expression was blank but his there was a hint of emotion in his eyes that she couldn't quite make out. The longer he didn't respond, the more anxious she got. She knew Derek would accept her, because he had already done so despite the fact that she didn't turn into a werewolf, but it was still nerve-wracking.

Despite the fact that it took her months to figure out what she was, she was so relieved now that she actually knew. The stress of not knowing was weighing her down and it kind of felt like she could breathe again. Now that she knew what she was, she could train and use her abilities to help Derek, her pack, and her friends.

"It makes sense," Derek said finally.

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "It does?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Ollie, on Isaac's first full moon, you almost completely calmed him down before I stepped in. From what he said, you did it when he broke into Scott's house as well."

Olivia cocked her head thoughtfully. "I guess…"

"And you were doing it before you were even bitten," Derek pointed out. "When Scott had first changed, your voice would calm him down a little. When Cora—when you and Cora were kids, she was always much calmer with you by her side."

"So, I've been this my entire life," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "and Peter biting me, what, accelerated my powers?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Derek confirmed. "but this is good news, Ollie."

"Why?"

"Because now that we know what you are, we can train you."

Olivia pressed her lips together and nodded. She was thinking the same thing and it was nice to know that Derek would have her back. The Hale family was mostly gone but at least Olivia and Derek had each other.

Olivia and Derek went through the rest of the research she had, even though most of it was irrelevant, through the rest of the morning. Isaac woke up an hour after she arrived and Boyd and Erica arrived an hour after that so the pack could go over the plan for the full moon that night.

Originally, Olivia hadn't been part of the plan for the full moon for her safety and the fact that it was Lydia's seventeenth birthday. Now, the plans had changed; Olivia would spend an hour or two at Lydia's party and then come back to the train station to help with Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.

Now that they knew she had abilities to calm the new betas down during their transitions, they knew that had to take advantage of that.

Derek pulled out a trunk with the triskele branded on the front, opening the hatch to reveal numerous lengths of chain.

"What is that?" Isaac pointed at the triskele.

"It's a triskele," Olivia told him. "Spirals can mean different things—past, present, future. Mother, father, child."

"For Hales, it means something different," Derek added. "What do you think it is?"

"Alpha, beta, omega?" Boyd spoke up.

Derek nodded at him. "That's right. It's a spiral," he started to explain further. "It reminds us that we can all rise to one or fall to another."

"Betas can become alphas but alphas can also fall to betas or even omegas," Olivia stated.

"Like Scott?" Isaac wondered.

Derek shook his head. "Scott's with us."

"Really?" Isaac looked around as though he was searching for Scott. "Then where is he now?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at the hostility Isaac was showing. It was like he was feeling threatened now that Scott had joined the pack to take down Jackson.

"He's looking for Jackson," Derek informed him. "Don't worry, he's not gonna have it easy tonight, either. None of us will. There's a price you pay for this kind of power; you get the ability to heal but tonight, you're gonna want to kill anything you can find."

"Good thing I had my period last week, then," Erica commented with pursed lips; Olivia sent her an amused grin.

Derek shook his head and picked up a metal band that fit around the head with numerous nails that could be adjusted. He walked over to Erica and presented it to her. "Well, this one is for you."

Olivia grimaced, not envying Erica at all.

Stiles stared down at the yearbook in front of him, his eyes narrowing at the picture of Kara Simmons, the rave promotor that Jackson had killed. She didn't fit the pattern of the rest of the victims; sure, she was twenty-four and had been in the same graduating class but she hadn't been part of Harris' class that the rest of the victims shared. It was infuriating that he couldn't figure out why Kara had been killed.

He wanted this kanima bullshit to be done already. Too many people were getting hurt and the pack was still floundering on how to stop Jackson without killing him dead.

"Hey, whatcha doing?" Noah came up to his door while he was flipping to the next page.

"Homework."

As Noah walked away Stiles went onto the next page of the yearbook, finding nothing that was useful.

"It's spring break," Noah was back; he entered Stiles' room and sighed when he saw the yearbook on his desk. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, I'm just satisfying my own curiosity," Stiles said nonchalantly. He went to turn another page but his dad reached over and closed the yearbook.

"We brought Harris in this morning for questioning," he informed Stiles before correcting himself. "_They_ brought him in."

Stiles eagerly turned to Noah. "And?"

"And they're working on a warrant to arrest him for the murders."

"For all of them?"

"Enough of them."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "With what proof?"

"You remember the couple at the trailer?" Stiles nodded at Noah's question. "Tire tracks nearby match Harris' car."

"W-What?" Stiles shook his head and opened the yearbook back up. "That's not enough."

Noah closed the yearbook again. "The same car was also seen outside the hospital where the pregnant wife was killed," he sighed. "It's got some bumper sticker on it, a quote from Einstein?"

Well, that rang a bell.

"What quote?" Stiles wondered.

"Something about imagination and knowledge."

Okay, so Harris' car was at the rave, too, then. "_Imagination is more important than knowledge_," he quoted with a nod. "Yeah, I saw the same car parked outside the rave."

"That means you're a witness," Noah pointed out. "You're gonna have to give a statement."

Stiles couldn't spend time on that. There were more important things. "But what about the concert promoter, Kara?" he asked, thinking of the break in the similarity of victims. "She wasn't in Harris' class, right? I mean, what does Mr. Lahey have to do with Harris?"

"It doesn't matter," Noah stressed. "The tire tracks put Harris at the site of three murders. That's damning evidence."

Stiles shook his head firmly, opening the yearbook once again. "No, that's not enough."

Noah sighed and let him look through the book. "I thought you hated this guy."

"I don't hate him, all right? He hates me," Stiles corrected him as he continued to look through the book. "And, you know, if he killed them all, then yeah, lock the psycho up but there's something missing."

"Hey. _Hey_," Noah grabbed Stiles' attention. "You don't have to solve this for me."

"I have to do something," Stiles sighed; he couldn't just wait around and not be useful. Since he couldn't do the same stuff as Scott and Derek, then he could do this. He looked back up to his dad and saw that Noah was staring down at the yearbook with narrowed eyes. "What?"

"Look at the swim team."

Stiles looked down at the page, his eyes going straight to the team picture. All of the victims; the mechanic, Argent's hunter, the rave promoter, and the couple were all squished together to smile at the camera. And then, at the bottom of the page, was a picture of Mr. Lahey.

"Dad, the coach," Stiles pointed out quickly. "It's Isaac's dad."

Olivia went through the numerous dresses that Lydia had bought for her party. They were all very cute and all something that both she and Lydia would wear. It didn't surprise her that her cousin went overboard, too, since there were at least five dresses.

"So," she turned to Lydia with a smile. "which one is your host dress?"

Lydia grinned and picked out the bodycon dress with black and gray stripes. "This one," she set it down and picked up a dark blue dress. "and this will be the evening dress."

"What, no after-hours casual?" Olivia joked, earning a laugh from Lydia. "Did you talk to Jackson?"

Despite the fact that Lydia knew that Jackson was the kanima, she still wanted him at her birthday party. Lydia had gone to the school after lacrosse practice was finishing up and had spoken to Jackson personally to make sure he was still going.

"Yeah," Lydia confirmed. "and he was acting weird."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Weird, how?"

"Like how you told me he was at the rave," Lydia sighed; Olivia nodded worriedly. "Anyway, I touched his arm for a second and he seemed to snap out of it."

"Did he?"

Lydia nodded. "And he told me that I didn't want him at my party," she hesitated for a second. "Liv, do you think he knows what's going on with him and he was warning me or something?"

"Maybe," Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. "As much as I want to say that it's good that he knows what's going on, now, I don't think it's better for him."

"Because now he knows he's being controlled," Lydia supplied, thinking along the same lines as Olivia. "and there's nothing he can do to stop it, either."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek; she hated this whole thing. People were dead because of whoever was controlling Jackson and Jackson had no way to stop it. Despite the fact that Jackson was a dick, he didn't want to kill people. Now, all that blood was on his hands even though it wasn't really his fault. It had to be heartbreaking for him. He didn't deserve to be someone's murderous slave.

"Damn it," Lydia sighed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, Lyds," Olivia tried to assure her; she didn't feel confident, though. "We're gonna find whoever is controlling Jackson and we're gonna stop him."

Lydia gave her a sad smile. "I hope so," she sniffed two times before perking up, changing the subject. "So, I got you a romper since you'll be going to help Derek and his pack."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Olivia asked Lydia as she grabbed one of the Macy's bag and pulled out a black romper that was actually really cute. "I can stay, if you want me to."

Lydia paused as she rearranged the romper on her bed and gave Olivia a stern look. "Liv, you have the power to help Isaac, Erica, and Boyd," she reminded her. "I would be the world's biggest bitch if I told you I didn't want you to go."

"No, you wouldn't," Olivia disagreed.

"Uh-huh," Lydia rolled her eyes. "Now, I want you to try this on before we start setting up."

Olivia shook her head in amusement, grabbing the romper and heading to the bathroom she shared with Lydia.

Hours later, Lydia party was set up. Olivia had been in charge of the decorations and music, making sure everything was set up to Lydia's standards, while Lydia was in charge of the food and drinks. The food was simple finger foods that Natalie ordered from a caterer before she slipped away from the house to give them space, while the punch was a recipe that Lydia saw on Pinterest.

A couple of people had arrived already, including Allison and Scott, but there wasn't as many people as there usually was at one of Lydia's parties. It was positively bare compared to what Olivia was used to and she could tell that it was bringing Lydia down.

While Lydia was making sure there was enough punch poured for the partygoers, Olivia was assigned the front door. Fifteen minutes after the party started, the doorbell rang once again. When she opened the door, she came face-to-face with Stiles, who was holding a huge box in his arms.

"Hey!" he greeted her enthusiastically, shaking the present.

"What on Earth," Olivia's eyes trailed over the box, which was wider than he was. "What did you even get her?"

"A teddy bear," Stiles answered simply. "Okay, I'm coming in."

Stiles didn't get very far. The present was too wide for the door frame, which meant that he couldn't get it in right away. Olivia watched him with a smile as he struggled for a few seconds, trying to forcefully push the box through the door.

_What a dork_, she thought to herself fondly.

"You know you can just flip it around, right?" she pointed out, gesturing so it seemed like she was flipping the box vertically.

Stiles stopped struggling and gave her an annoyed look. "You couldn't have said anything earlier?"

"I figured you knew!" Olivia grinned.

Stiles rolled his eyes fondly. "You're so mean to me," he flipped the present like Olivia said and easily walked through the door. "but you're beautiful so I don't mind."

Olivia's heart fluttered but she didn't respond to his comment. "The present can go there," she pointed at the present table, where only four packages laid. "and Lydia made the punch so make sure you get some of that."

"Will do," Stiles nodded, setting the present down at the table. "Is Scott here?"

"Yeah," Olivia confirmed. "and so is Allison but they're on separate sides of the backyard."

"Right," Stiles clicked his tongue. "So, is Jackson here yet?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"Well, I found something out while I was going through the 2006 yearbook," Stiles told her. "All the victims were on the swim team and Mr. Lahey was the coach."

Olivia looked at him in surprise as they started heading toward the backyard. "Are you serious?" Stiles nodded. "Okay, so this all has to do with water, then, right?"

"That's what I think," Stiles agreed. "Remember the way the kanima reacted to water?"

Olivia nodded. "So, whoever's controlling the kanima hates the 2006 swim team."

"Yep and I thought that it may be another teacher but what if we're missing something?"

They stepped out into the backyard, where the party of five was taking place. Lydia was still waiting by punch table on one side of the pool, while two random people were dancing by the stereo, and Allison and Scott were talking quietly with each other.

"I'll guess we'll have to figure it out," Olivia put a comforting hand on Stiles' arm for only a second but it seemed to relax him.

Allison and Scott approached them, each with their own hesitant smiles. Olivia guessed that there was still some awkwardness between them from their fight at the rave the previous week.

"Uh, Jackson's not here," Allison pointed out needlessly.

"Yeah," Stiles' eyes flittered over the empty backyard. "No one's here."

"Maybe it's just early," Scott offered weakly.

Olivia shook her head. "The party started almost twenty minutes ago."

"Nobody's coming because Lydia turned into the town whack job," Stiles commented before backtracking when Olivia frowned at him. "Uh, I mean…yeah, it's pretty early."

Olivia rolled her eyes while Allison spoke up. "Well, we have to do something," she declared. "because we've completely ignored her for the past two weeks."

_That's true,_ Olivia thought to herself, _Scott, Stiles, and Allison had really talked to Lydia since Derek tried to kill her. _

"She's completely ignored me and Stiles for the past ten years," Scott shrugged, unbothered. "We don't owe her a party."

"Okay, well, she wouldn't be the town whack job if it wasn't for all of us," Olivia pointed out; Peter had bitten Lydia and the rest of them had lied to her about what was going on. "So, if we could please do something."

Scott sighed and looked over at Lydia, who looked uncomfortable with the lack of people. "I guess I could use my co-captain statue to get the lacrosse team here."

"Yeah, I also know some people who can get this thing going," Stiles pulled his phone from his jeans. "Like, really going."

Allison frowned at him. "Who?"

"I met them at the gay club when Jackson was trying to kill Danny," Stiles informed them. "Let's just say they know how to party."

The people who Stiles met at the gay club were drag queens and they were some of the nicest people that Olivia had ever met. With them and the lacrosse team and their girlfriends showing up, the party was actually exciting.

Olivia played her part as co-hostess and answered the door to let everyone in but when the doorbell stopped ringing, she allowed herself to join the party. She didn't usually like parties but it was Lydia's birthday and she wanted to have fun before she had to go deal with out-of-control baby werewolves.

She hung out with Lydia for a while, pointing out the people that Stiles invited because her cousin had no idea who they were, listening to the music that pumped through their backyard, and eating cake. Eventually, Lydia went off to pass out some more punch and Olivia went to find Stiles.

Olivia didn't like dancing in public but the last time she did, she was with Stiles and she had a lot of fun. And she had romantic feelings for Stiles now, and she didn't see a point in hiding them forever. Stiles had told her that he had feelings for her long before she realized her own and they had just shared a kiss—even if it was an absentminded one.

"Hi," she approached him with a smile; he lit up when she stopped in front of him. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah!" Stiles nodded jerkily, sipping on his punch. "What about you?"

Usually Olivia would play it cool; she'd be casual as she answered him and she wouldn't let on that she was enjoying his company. Not this time. "Do you wanna dance?"

Stiles raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You want to dance?" she nodded. "Are you feeling okay, Livvy? I mean, I practically had to drag you out onto the dance floor last time."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged with a small smile. "I like dancing with you."

Stiles' jaw dropped for a second but it was like Olivia's words gave him a boost of confidence. He quickly set his punch down on the nearest table and firmly grabbed Olivia's hand, twirling her around before pulling her into his arms.

"Wow," Olivia breathed, surprised, as his hands drifted down to her hips while they swayed to the music. "and here I was thinking that we'd be doing the chicken dance again."

"The chicken dance is fun but I like this, too," Stiles grinned at her. "You look amazing, by the way."

"Thanks," Olivia squeezed his biceps. "I like when you wear green."

"You do?!"

"Yeah," she assured him, her smile widening. "but I like blue on you the best."

"Oh," Stiles perked up excitedly. "Well, that's good because my favorite color is blue."

"Really?" Olivia asked in surprise; she would have thought it was red or something. "Why?"

Stiles stared into her cobalt-blue eyes. "Blue is pretty."

Olivia's heart melted right then and there.

Olivia shifted uneasily on her feet from where she stood next to Isaac, watching as Derek chained Boyd and Erica up in the back of the train car. All three of the newbie betas were uneasy as the full moon got closer but it was really a struggle for Erica and Boyd. It was their first full moon, so they all were expecting them to act out of control tonight. Isaac would have a better chance but from how tense he was, he was in for a rough night, too.

This full moon felt different than the last for Olivia, too. She didn't know if it was because she was actually aware of the powers she held this time but she could feel the moon starting to affect her. Not in the way that it did for werewolves, it was like the exact opposite. She felt more in control than ever, like her body knew that she had a purpose and she would be fulfilling it tonight while helping Erica, Boyd, and Isaac stay in control.

"What if we break free?" Boyd asked as Derek finished chaining him up.

"Then you'll do anything you can to get out of here," Derek answered him. "You'd probably try to kill me and Olivia, then each other, and anything else with a heartbeat."

"Hopefully I'll be able to help you with your control so that doesn't happen," Olivia gave him a small, reassuring smile; Boyd returned her smile with a trusting nod.

Derek moved onto to the chains restraining Erica. He quickly made sure they were going to hold her before picking up the headband he had showed her that morning. He looked to Isaac and Olivia and nodded back at Erica, "I need you guys to hold her."

Isaac immediately took Erica's arms behind her back while Olivia laid both of her hands on her shoulders. "So," Isaac wondered. "how come she gets to wear the headband thing?"

"Because she'll be able to withstand more pain than the two of you," Derek set the metal headband on top of Erica's head and slipped it down, making sure it was over her forehead. "I've got an extra one if you really want it."

Olivia grimaced and looked over at Isaac, who quickly shook his head. "I'll pass."

Derek looked to Erica. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

As a pack, they all took a deep breath together. Derek started twisting the prong into the skin of Erica's forehead; Erica screamed loudly, fighting against Isaac's hold on her. Olivia held onto her shoulders as tight as she could, but even she felt unsettled with the slight tingling in the same spot on _her_ forehead.

It was hard for everyone to hear Erica's painful screams. At first, it was just the prongs of the headband causing them but then the moon came out and it was all part of her transition. Boyd soon joined her, grunting and groaning while trying to break free of the restraints holding him.

Olivia restrained Isaac while Derek watched over Boyd and Erica. As soon as she was done, they'd switch places and Olivia would take a crack at trying to be an anchor for them.

"How doesn't Derek feel this?" Isaac murmured as she clasped a handcuff around his wrist and tightened the one holding him to the seat.

"I'm sure he feels every second of it," Olivia looked up at him. "He's had more practice, though."

"That's how he controls it?"

"He has an anchor. It's something meaningful to you. You can bind yourself to it and keep your human side in control," Olivia straightened to her full height and glanced briefly at her cousin as he spoke with his betas. "For Derek, it's anger, but it doesn't have to be for everybody."

"Like Scott?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, knowing that Allison was Scott's anchor. "but listen, if you can't find an anchor tonight, don't worry about it. We can work on it," she placed a hand on his shoulder and he visibly relaxed. "It's why I'm here."

Isaac nodded quietly. Erica screamed again, catching Olivia's attention. "Tell me if you need help," she told Isaac before making her way back to Erica and Boyd. "All right, let's do this."

Stiles was officially bored of Lydia's party. The party itself was still hopping, with dozens and dozens of people drinking Lydia's spiked punch, dancing, talking to their friends, and swimming in the large pool. It was fun but not for Stiles.

He was almost positive it was because Olivia had split a half-hour before. Their dancing had been interrupted by birthday cake and after Lydia blew out the candles, Olivia told him she had to leave to help Derek with Isaac, Erica, and Boyd. He didn't know exactly how she was supposed to help keep three new betas in control but it figured it had something to do with the way her eyes turned purple on the last full moon.

So, now he was stuck next to a stubborn-ass Scott, who kept on sending Allison puppy-dog eyes without realizing it.

"Are you gonna apologize to Allison or what?" he asked his best friend, taking a sip of punch from his plastic cup.

Scott gave him a confused look. "Why should I apologize?"

"Because you're the guy. It's, like, what we do."

"But I didn't do anything wrong."

"Then you should definitely apologize," Stiles glanced back at Allison, where she was chatting with Lydia, and then back to Scott. "See, any time a guy thinks he hasn't done anything wrong, it means he's definitely done something wrong."

Scott thought about that for a moment before insisting, "I'm not apologizing."

Stiles pressed his lips together and gave him a knowing look. "Is that the full moon talking, buddy?"

"Probably," Scott shrugged. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"Because, Scott, something's gotta go right here. I mean, we're getting our asses royally kicked, if you haven't noticed," Stiles pointed out firmly. "People are dying, I got my dad fired, you're gonna be held back in school and if, on top of all that, I gotta watch you lose Allison to a fucking stalker like Matt, I'm gonna stab myself in the face."

As he finished, he was surprised to realize that there actually was something going right in his life. His relationship with Olivia was progressing every day. It almost made up for everything else going bad—almost.

"Don't stab yourself in the face," Scott was staring across the pool. "Jackson's here."

Scott left him, probably to go talk to Allison or Lydia about Jackson. Stiles drained the rest of his punch and started to follow after him when he paused, hearing his dad's familiar voice.

"Why am I wearing black? What are you, an idiot?" Stiles whipped around to see his dad yelling at one of his classmates, dressed in a suit and holding a bottle of whiskey in his hands. "I just came from a funeral. You know, people wear black at funerals."

Stiles' eyes widened in shock as Noah took a long pull of the whiskey. Why was his dad even here? What funeral was he talking about?

"Dude, chill," the teenager held his hands up. "I was just—"

Noah roughly shoved him away. "Get out of my face."

He took another drink from the bottle and turned to Stiles, glaring at him with hateful eyes. "It's you. It's all you," he held the whiskey bottle up like he was making a toast. "You know, every day I saw her lying in that hospital slowly dying…"

_This is about Mom_, Stiles realized, his eyes stinging.

"I thought, how the hell am I supposed to raise this stupid kid on my own? This hyperactive little bastard who keeps running my life?" Noah pointed at his son, disgusted. "It's all you. It's you, Stiles. You killed your mother, you hear me? You killed her and now you're killing me!"

Stiles didn't say anything, he didn't move. How was he supposed to react when his dad was saying everything that he blamed himself for? His mom had died and he just stood and watched. He didn't do anything as the life left her eyes.

He flinched away as Noah threw the half-empty bottle at him, the glass crashing against the column he had been standing by. When he looked back at the area his dad had been standing, he was gone.

And then he was submerged in cold water.

Stiles inhaled deeply as he was lifted out of the pool, icy water dripping from his short hair down the back of his neck. He blinked rapidly and coughed, his eyes darting from Scott, who was in front of him, to one of their classmates. It was Danielle, who was known to be quite the character.

"What the _fuck_?" he spluttered.

"How do you feel?" Danielle asked simply.

"Like I might have to revisit my policy on hitting a girl," he glared at her.

Danielle sniffed, looking at Scott. "He's sober."

"Yeah, thanks, Danielle," Stiles rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

All around him, people were going crazy. There was some girl making out with a plant, two dudes were fighting over the last pig-in-a-blanket, and he had obviously had a hallucination about his dad because why the hell else would Noah even be at Lydia's party?

He turned to Scott. "What the hell is going on?"

When Scott had informed him that Lydia was no longer at the party, they both split up to look for her. While Scott took the inside of the house, where more people were freaking out, Stiles looked outside. There was no sign of Lydia, but there was wolfsbane in the punch bowl.

He hurriedly met up with Scott, who hadn't seen Lydia, either.

"Lydia put wolfsbane in the punch," Stiles informed Scott, trying not to think about how weird the situation was. "Anyone who drank it is freaking out."

Emphasizing Stiles' statement, people started pushing unsuspecting guests into the pool. Some of them enjoyed the little swim they would be privy to. But not Matt Daehler. He didn't know how to swim.

Realization hit Stiles and Scott at the same time. Matt had been in the library when Jackson turned into the kanima, he was the one who owned the camera that had footage of Jackson as a kanima on it. He had been at the rave when Kara was killed. The kanima's master wasn't able to swim and neither could Matt.

And the icing on top of the cake; Jackson—asshole extraordinaire—was the one who helped Matt out of the pool. Their suspicions were confirmed when the police showed up at the party and they tried to confront Matt. He was outside waiting for them, the kanima wrapped protectively around his legs.

Stiles immediately called Olivia, who picked up on the first ring. _"Hello? Stiles?"_

He could the stress in her voice and fighting in the background. "Matt Daehler's the one controlling Jackson," he told her. "Can you come?"

There was a second where she didn't answer and then, "_I'm on my way."_


	22. The Kanima's Master

**[2x10; Fury]**

"So, this kid," Noah pointed at the yearbook slapped on Stiles' desk, page open with a bright red circle around Matt's picture. "he's the real killer?"

Stiles, Scott, and Olivia all looked at each other before nodding at him. "Yeah."

Noah shook his head. "No."

"Yes!"

"No."

Stiles sighed in frustration. "Dad, come on," he groaned, wishing his dad would just believe him one time. "Everybody knows that the police look for ways to connect victims with a murder, okay? So, all he had to do is, like, look through their transcripts and figure out which class they all had in common."

"Yeah, except for the fact that the rave promoter, Kara, wasn't in Harris' class," Noah crossed his arms over his chest.

"All right, okay. You're right, sorry," Stiles shrugged mockingly. "Then I guess they dropped the charges against him?"

Noah stared at him in frustration, wishing he could deny Stiles' claim; Stiles had seen the look on his face many of times. "No, you know what, they're not dropping the charges," he conceded. "but that doesn't prove anything."

Stiles scoffed in disbelief and shared a wide-eyed look with Scott.

"Olivia," Olivia perked up when the sheriff addressed her, "do you believe any of this?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded. "It's difficult to explain but you have to trust your son."

Stiles gave her a grateful look, to which she nodded back at him.

"We know it's Matt," Scott added in support.

"Yeah, he took Harris' car, okay," Stiles shared his theory with Noah. "Look, he knew that if a cop found tire tracks at one of the murders, and that if enough of the victims were in Harris' class, that they'd arrest him."

"Matt Daehler's smart, Sheriff Stilinski," Olivia stated. "He's not the run of the mill type of lacrosse player."

Stiles gave her an offended look. "Uh, was that supposed to be a slight against me and Scott, 'cause I think it—"

"Stiles, really?"

"Right, right," Stiles turned back to his dad, expectantly.

"All right, fine," Noah sighed. "I'll allow the remote possibility but give me a motive. I mean, why would this kid want most of the 2006 swim team and its coach dead?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Stiles gestured wildly. "Our swim team sucks! They haven't won in, like, six years."

Olivia cocked her head thoughtfully while Noah gave his son an unimpressed look. She thought about how Mr. Lahey had abused Isaac ever since his mother died; who's to say the man didn't take out some aggression on other kids, too?

"Okay, so, we don't have a motive yet," Stiles' shoulders slumped. "I mean, come on, does Harris?"

Noah pressed his lips together and looked down at Matt's picture in the yearbook. "What do you want me to do?"

Olivia perked up, surprised that Sheriff Stilinski gave into his son's explanation. Before, it hadn't looked like he was going to. Stiles whipped around to grin at her and Scott, obviously speechless.

"We need to look at the evidence," Scott requested, more composed than Stiles; Stiles nodded rapidly.

"Yeah, that would be in the station where I no longer work."

"Trust me, they'll let you in," Stiles said earnestly.

Noah raised an eyebrow at him. "Trust you?"

"T-Trust Scott or Olivia?" Stiles stammered, pointing to them.

Noah exhaled through his nose before pointing at Olivia. "Olivia, I trust."

"Really?" Stiles asked in surprise; he didn't blame his dad for trusting her because it was _Olivia_ but she and Noah had hardly spoken to each other. "You hardly know her."

"You wanna go to the station or not?" Noah challenged him.

"Oh, yeah, uh, definitely—I definitely want to go to the station."

Noah left the room and Olivia followed after him, sending Stiles a cute smile and teasingly poking out her tongue at him. Stiles sighed as he watched her leave his room before turning to Scott, "I'm gonna marry that girl someday."

Scott chuckled and clapped his shoulder. "Sure, you will, buddy."

Since there was only one murder that the kanima didn't commit himself, they started with footage from the hospital first. They were hoping that the cameras placed in every hallway would have captured Matt on the way to murder Jessica, the woman who Jackson couldn't kill because she was pregnant.

The deputy that had desk duty that night had taken only a minute for Noah to convince her to let him into his office. From there, Noah was allowed to access all of the evidence that the police were building for this case.

"I don't know, guys," Noah sighed after watching twenty minutes of footage, none of which had Matt in it. "I mean, look at this. There was a six-car pileup that night, the hospital was jammed."

"Just keep going," Stiles urged. "Look, he had to have passed one of the cameras on that floor to get to Jessica, okay? He's gotta be on the footage somewhere."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at the computer, watching one of the figures storm down the hall. "Hold on, stop and scroll back," she requested, pointing out the guy she had been eyeing. "I'm pretty sure that's him."

"That's him!" Stiles agreed as soon as he took a closer look. "That's Matt."

"All I see is the back of someone's head."

"Matt's head, yeah," Stiles told his father. "I sit behind him in history. He's got a very distinct cranium, it's weird."

Noah looked up at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?"

"Matt has a weird walk, though," Olivia told the sheriff. "It's like he's always in a rush to murder someone."

"His walk," Noah's voice was flat; Olivia bit the inside of her cheek.

"Fine, then look at his jacket," Stiles pointed at the footage again. "How many people do you know who wear black leather jackets?"

"Millions, _literally_."

"Okay," Scott interjected. "can we scroll forward. There's gotta be a shot of him coming at one of the cameras."

Noah clicked play and the footage went on for a couple of seconds before Stiles stopped him again.

"Right there!" he exclaimed; Noah stopped the footage. "See, there he is again."

"You mean there's the back of his head again," Noah corrected him.

"Okay, but he's talking to someone."

Scott peered over Stiles' shoulder. "He's talking to my mom."

Within seconds, Scott was on the phone, asking him mom about her run-in with Matt.

"_Scott, you know how many people I deal with in a day_?" Melissa asked incredulously.

"This one's sixteen, he's got dark hair, looks like a normal teenager—"

"Yeah, he looks evil," Stiles enthusiastically cut Scott off.

Olivia grabbed his shoulders, pulling him away from the phone. She ignored the accusing look he had given her and pressed a finger to her lips in a signal to be quiet.

"_Scott, I already talked to the police about this."_

"Mom, I'm gonna take a picture and send it to you," Scott quickly took a picture of Matt in the yearbook and sent it to his mom. "Did you get it?"

"_Yeah_."

"Do you recognize him?" Scott asked. "Do you remember him?"

"_Yeah, I did_," Melissa confirmed. "_I mean, I remember I stopped him because he was tracking mud in the hall…Scott, what's going on?"_

"It's—It's nothing, Mom," Scott assured her while Stiles, Noah, and Olivia exchanged looks. "I'll explain later. I gotta go."

He quickly ended the call and shoved his phone in his pocket.

Noah hurriedly grabbed one of the files in the pile next to him. "We've got shoe prints alongside the tire tracks at the trailer site."

"And if they match, that puts Matt at the scene of three murders," Stiles continued thoughtfully. "The trailer, the hospital, and the rave."

"Actually, four," Noah corrected him. "A credit card receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage where the mechanic was killed."

"When?"

"A couple hours before you got there," Noah checked the file for confirmation.

Stiles shook excitedly and Olivia couldn't help but smile at him. This was his thing. Like her thing was science, his thing was solving cases—full blown detective work that impressed the socks off of her.

"All right, Dad," he said quickly. "if one's an incident, two's a coincidence, and three's a pattern, what's four?"

Noah slammed the case file shut. "Four's enough for a warrant," he stated before looking at Scott and Olivia. "Scott, call your mom back and see how quick she can get here. If I can get an official ID, I can get a search warrant. Olivia, you go to the front desk. Tell them to let Scott's mom in when she gets here."

Olivia nodded firmly. "On it."

Olivia left Noah's office, heading down the hallway that they had traveled to get there. To her surprise, the young deputy who let them in wasn't at the desk like before. And when she turned around, there weren't any night-duty cops in their wreck room, either.

"Hello?" she called softly.

Tingles started erupting all over her body, goosebumps covering her skin.

_Olivia_.

Olivia followed the voice whispering in her ear, turning around to see that Matt Daehler had been behind her, aiming a cocked gun to her.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck,_ she whimpered mentally.

"Matt," she breathed, trying to keep her fear from showing on her face. "Let's talk about this."

"Let's not," Matt said sharply, a single tear falling from his eye. "Why don't you lead me back to the Sheriff's office?"

Olivia nodded and slowly raised her hands so Matt could see that she wasn't going to try anything. Matt gestured down the hall with his free hand and she instantly started walking, leading him back to Noah's office where the boys were waiting for her.

She tried not to freak out, taking deep breaths and telling herself to be calm. She didn't know if it was the breathing or if her anchor powers could work on her, too, but she did feel herself calming down the slightest bit. She wasn't panicked but she was still on edge.

Who wouldn't be with a gun held to their back?

Olivia heard Scott tell Stiles and Noah that his mom was on her way to the station as she walked into the office. The Stilinski men weren't able to respond to Scott, spotting Olivia' predicament right away; Scott followed their eyes, his own widening when he saw Matt and the gun he aimed at Olivia.

Olivia could see Stiles clenching his jaw and shifting angrily. She really hoped he wouldn't lose his temper and make Matt even angrier.

"Matt?" Noah's voice was calm, the antithesis of Stiles' expression. "It's Matt, right?" Matt nodded cockily. "Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee you there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."

"You know, it's funny you say that," Matt scoffed. "I don't think you're aware of just how right you are."

Noah had no idea what Matt was talking about but Olivia, Stiles, and Scott knew.

"I know you don't wanna hurt people."

"Actually, I wanna hurt a lot of people," Matt disagreed. "You four weren't on my list but I could be persuaded."

Olivia flinched as Matt pushed her away from him with the barrel of his gun, urging her toward Stiles and Scott. Stiles instantly grabbed her hand, pulling her close to him in case Matt had any urges.

"And one way is to try dialing somebody on your cell phone like McCall is doing," Matt snapped, seeing movement in Scott's jean pocket. "That—that could definitely get someone hurt. Everyone," he pointed his gun on the desk, wanting them to give up their phones. "Now!"

The four of them put their phones on Noah's desk. Matt then marched them out of the office, down the hallway, to the holding room, where he made Noah sit on one of the benches just a few feet away from the two holding cells. He had Stiles put handcuffs on him, attaching him to the metal bar right behind him.

"Tighter," Matt ordered, pointing his gun at Stiles when Stiles clasped the cuff loosely around Noah's wrist.

"Do what he says, Stiles," Noah nodded at his son.

Stiles rolled his eyes and tightened the cuff before looking at Matt expectantly. Matt scowled at him and grabbed Olivia's shoulder, pushing her out of the holding room. Stiles and Scott were quick to join the line behind her as Matt herded them to the front desk.

As they were walking by one of the hallways, Olivia stopped in her tracks, horrified by what she saw. The three night-duty deputies, plus the one who was manning the desk, were all dead, their stomachs slashed to shreds. The kanima was in the station, too.

Scott gaped at the sight of them. "What, are you gonna kill everyone in here?" he looked back at Matt incredulously.

"No, that's what Jackson's for," Matt remarked. "I just think about killing them and he does it."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, desperately wanting to comment about how one of her closest friends wasn't just a murder slave. But she didn't—they couldn't have the situation escalating. She had to be calm, cool, and collected and she would be. She didn't hide her emotions all the time for nothing.

Matt pushed on Stiles' back, sending him into Scott, who fell into Olivia. She jumped forward, getting the hint that Matt wanted them walking again. They walked around the front desk and down another hallway, entering what looked to be a shared office.

"What is it that you wanna do, Matt?" Stiles spoke up, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Or are you just gonna parade us around the station a couple of times? I've seen it plenty, it's nothing special."

"Shut up, Stilinski," Matt pushed him toward the desk with the computer. "I want you three to delete the evidence. Anything relating to all of this, I want gone."

Stiles, Olivia, and Scott shared a look; if that evidence was gone, so was the case against Matt.

"Get going!" Matt raised his voice.

Stiles went to the computer, deleting the evidence stored on the hard drive while Scott and Olivia started on the files, going through them for anything to do with the case. One the evidence was collected, they shredded it all under Matt's watchful gaze.

"Deleted and we're done," Stiles tapped a key on the computer and aimed his heated gaze at Matt. "All right, so, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered deserved it because they killed you first—whatever the fuck that means—we're good here, right? We'll get my dad and we'll go, you know? You continue on the whole vengeance thing. Enjoy the kanima."

Just as Stiles finished speaking, a car pulled into the lot, it's headlights flashing through the blinds in the window.

Matt's eyes flickered over to Scott. "Sounds like your mom's here, McCall."

"Matt, don't do this," Scott pleaded roughly. "When she comes to the door, I'll just tell her to leave. I'll tell her we didn't find anything."

The door that led to the wreck room groaned loudly as it was opened.

Matt glared at Scott. "If you don't move, now, I'm gonna kill Olivia first, then Stiles, and then your mom," he gestured out of the office. "Let's go."

And so they marched back to the wreck room.

"Open it," Matt ordered Scott when he hesitated at the door.

"Please, Matt—"

"Open. The. Door."

A phantom sting raced across the back of Olivia's neck, causing her to wince. The feel of it was familiar, not because it was happening to her, but because it had happened to Derek before.

Scott opened the door, revealing Derek standing behind it.

"Oh, thank God."

"Derek!" Olivia lunged toward her cousin, hoping to catch him as he fell forward but Matt quickly tugged her back. Derek hit the floor on his back and glared at Matt with angry pale-green eyes.

"This is the one controlling him?" he grunted as Jackson—half in his kanima form—entered behind him. "This kid?"

Matt let go of Olivia, pushing her toward Jackson, and leaned over Derek. "Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big, bad werewolf."

Olivia hid the surprise on her face, though Matt could easily see it on Stiles and Scott.

"Yeah, that's right," he nodded proudly. "I've learned a few things lately. Werewolves, hunters, kanimas, whatever the hell Olivia is…It's like a fucking Halloween party every full moon," he caught Stiles rolling his eyes. "Except for you, Stiles. What do you turn into?"

_Please do not sass him_, Olivia pleaded mentally as she side-eyed Stiles.

That was exactly what he did. "An abominable snowman," he told Matt dryly. "But, uh, it's more of a wintertime thing, you know? Seasonal."

_Stiles…_

Matt nodded at Jackson; from behind Olivia, he reached for the back of Stiles' neck and slashed his skin. When Olivia and Scott moved to stop him, the kanima was quick to push them away. Stiles fell right on top of Derek, paralyzed just like the alpha.

"You bitch," Stiles' voice was warbled since his face was smushed against Derek's chest.

Derek just seemed _very_ annoyed with the whole situation. "Get him off of me."

"Oh, I don't know, Derek," Matt drawled, amused. "I think you two make a pretty good pair," Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, not seeing the same thing as Matt apparently did, and Derek just blinked flatly. "It must kinda suck, though, to have all that power taken away from you with just a little cut to the back of the neck. I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless."

"Still got some teeth," Derek snarked back at him. "Why don't you get down here a little closer, huh? We'll see how helpless I am."

"Yeah, bitch," Stiles grunted.

"Matt," Olivia spoke up, keeping her voice calm; Matt turned to her with expectant eyes. "We deleted the evidence and you obviously have the upper hand, here. You got what you want so just let us go."

Matt scoffed. "You didn't think that would work, did you, Olivia?" he asked mockingly as a vehicle pulled up to the station. He paused and turned to smirk at Scott, distracted. "Is that her?"

Scott inhaled deeply, knowing that his mom had finally arrived; Olivia reached for his hand, trying to offer some kind of support.

"Do what I tell you to and I won't hurt her," Matt ordered him. "I won't even let Jackson near her."

"Scott, don't trust him!" Stiles yelled from his place on Derek's chest.

Matt gritted his teeth and grabbed the back of Stiles' shirt, flipping him around and off of Derek's chest so his back was on the floor. He placed his dirty shoe against Stiles' throat, applying pressure.

_Stiles, Stiles, Stiles._

"Does this work better for you?" Matt shouted at Scott as Stiles choked underneath him.

"Stop," Olivia rubbed her ear, her free hand going to her throat. "Matt, stop!"

_Stiles, Stiles, Stiles._

Stiles' face was rapidly turning red, the vein in his forehead popping out as he continued to choke.

"Okay, just stop!" Scott yelled.

"Then do what I tell you to!"

"Okay, all right," Scott agreed; Matt continued to hold pressure. "Stop!"

Matt took his foot away from Stiles' throat. Olivia fell to her knees beside him as he gasped sharply, placing a cool hand on his red cheek to make sure he was okay.

"Get up," Matt roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet before looking over at Jackson. "Take them in there," he nodded at Scott. "You and Olivia are with me."

Matt pushed them out of the wreck room and into the lobby just as Melissa was entering the station.

"Mom?"

Melissa looked away from her phone and sighed in relief when she saw Scott and Olivia walk out. "You scared me. Where is every—"

"Mom," he cut her off as Matt appeared behind them, gun aimed at Scott's back; Melissa bristled, looking absolutely terrified. "just do what he says. He promised he wouldn't hurt you."

"He's right," Matt agreed before cocking his gun and shooting Scott. "but I didn't say I wouldn't hurt you."

Olivia gasped as Melissa screamed and Scott fell to the floor, her stomach tingling. She ignored the whispers of Scott's name to kneel down next to him, putting pressure on the steadily growing blood stain on his green shirt.

"SCOTT?" she heard Noah yell from the holding room. "OLIVIA? STILES?"

Melissa went to help her but was stopped when Matt aimed his gun at her. "Back, back!"

"Ms. McCall, stop," Olivia pleaded, pushing her hands against Scott's wound. She didn't want Melissa to get hurt and Matt would do it. He had proved his violent tendency with all of the people he had Jackson kill. "Please, stop."

"I said get back!"

"Scott…" Melissa's wet eyes were stuck on her son.

"Mom, do it," Scott told her. "Please, Mom."

"He's gonna be okay, Ms. McCall," Olivia assured her just to keep her away.

Melissa stayed back, not moving another inch. Satisfied, Matt turned back to Olivia and Scott, lowering his gun to aim it at Olivia. "Get up," he snapped at her. "You too, McCall."

"Matt?" Noah called, trying to get anyone's attention. "Matt, listen to me—"

"Shut up! Everyone shut the fuck up!" Matt screamed before giving Olivia and Scott his attention once again. "Now, get up, or I'll shoot you and her next."

Olivia nodded shakily, let go of Scott's wound, and scooped her hands under his armpits so she could lift him to his feet. "Okay, we're up. We're up."

"We're putting her in the holding cell," Matt gestured to Melissa. "Let's go."

Olivia was the one to put Melissa in the holding cell; Matt's gun was at her back while she slid the lock into place, making sure she did it correctly so Melissa couldn't get out.

"Please, he needs to see a doctor," Melissa begged Matt.

Matt snorted. "You think so?"

"Hey!" Noah barked, not liking the way he talked to Melissa; he jumped to his feet, his left arm still cuffed to the metal bar, and pointed at him. "You listen to me—"

"Stop, stop!" Olivia cut them off before Matt could get more pissed. "He'll be okay."

"He's clearly not okay!" Melissa argued tearfully, pointing at Scott, who was still clutching his stomach.

But Melissa didn't know what Olivia knew; Scott's name wasn't being whispered to her. His wound was healing and he'd be fine in a matter of minutes.

"Mom, it doesn't hurt," Scott assured his mother.

"That's because of the adrenaline," Melissa shook her head. "Please, let me—let me take a look at him, okay? I mean, at least let me stop the bleeding."

Matt laughed and looked back at Scott in disbelief. "They have no idea, do they?"

"Just let me take a quick look—"

"SHUT UP!" Matt roared at her, lunging toward the cell. "Lady, if you keep talking, I'm gonna put the next bullet through his head."

"Hey!" Olivia pushed against him, sending him skidding back a couple of inches from her. "Back off!"

She could be calm but she wasn't about to let this guy bully Scott's mom. She was clearly desperate, thinking her son was going to die, and not thinking about her own safety. Olivia would, though. She wouldn't let Matt hurt Melissa.

Matt scrambled toward her, throwing back his hand with the gun and backhanded her with the butt of it.

"HEY!"

"LIV!"

Olivia cried out as she fell to the floor, holding her aching cheek. The pain was bad but it was bearable. She had never been shot before, but she knew that she would feel worse if he had shot her like he did Scott. She sucked in a few desperate breaths to keep the stinging in her eyes at bay. She wasn't going to cry in front of this asshole.

"Liv, are you okay?" Scott asked worriedly.

"Get up," Matt snarled at her again before she could answer Scott.

Olivia glared at him and let go of her face, getting to her feet. He pushed her toward Scott and she grabbed him to steady herself, inhaling deeply. She nodded at Scott, silently telling him that she was okay.

"Both of you, back to the front," Matt ordered. "Let's go!"

Back in the front room, Matt pushed Olivia and Scott past Stiles and Derek where they were laying on the floor. They were both still paralyzed and they were both visibly fuming, though the lack of sensation in their bodies led them unable to do anything to Matt.

"The evidence is gone," Olivia spat at Matt, repeating her earlier words. "Why don't you just go?"

"You—you think the evidence mattered that much?" Matt scoffed, shaking his head. "No, no, I-I want the book."

"What?" Scott was confused; so was Olivia, for that matter. "What book?"

"The bestiary," Matt told them. "Not just a few pages, I want the entire thing."

"That's Argent's bestiary," Olivia could not believe they were going through all of this for a glorified dictionary written in archaic Latin. "We don't have access."

"What do you want it for, anyway?"

Matt glowered at Olivia and answered Scott, "I need answers."

"Answers to _what_?"

Matt lifted his striped t-shirt, revealing his stomach covered in scales just like Jackson's. "To this."

Olivia wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Look, you want to talk to the Argents? Be my fucking guest. Good luck," she glared at Matt. "but we don't have the answers for you so let us go."

Matt just shook his head and raised his gun to her head, cocking it. "Give me your phone," he told Scott. "or I'll blow her brains out."

_Okay, so, that was a bad idea_, Olivia admitted to herself as she stared down the barrel of the gun. _What happened to cool, calm, and collected? Show no fear, Liv. Damn it, do not cry._

The problem with Matt demanding Scott's phone was that they had already given them to him when he first showed up. It was Stiles who was the one to remind the psycho about that. Luckily, he did so with no sarcasm, otherwise Olivia was sure she would have gotten a bullet to the head.

After marching Scott and Olivia back to Noah's office, he texted Allison on Scott's phone, asking her to bring the bestiary to the station.

"There," Matt threw Scott's phone back on the desk and walked them to the bullpen where the deputies usually did their work. "You know, I feel sorry for you, McCall. Cause right now, you're thinking about how you're gonna explain to your mom that you healed."

Scott looked down at his wound; the blood had trailed down from under his stained shirt and had dripped onto his jeans, too.

"The sad part is, you don't even realize how incredible it is that you're actually healing," Matt went on. "Cause you know what happens to everyone else when they get shot? They _die_."

Olivia eyed him carefully, noticing how he had emphasized the last word of his statement. And then she remembered the conversation at the rave. When he had told them—through Jackson—that people had killed him.

"You died, didn't you?" she asked, her mind racing. She thought about how he was afraid of water. "How did you drown?"

Matt shook his head slightly. "He shouldn't have let them drink."

"What?" Scott furrowed his eyebrows. "Who?"

"You're talking about Mr. Lahey, aren't you?" Olivia guessed. "He let the swim team drink?"

Matt nodded in confirmation. "I didn't know what was happening," he revealed. "I didn't know they had just won state and Lahey, he's letting his favorites come over to have a couple of drinks to celebrate. Who cares if they're seventeen, right?"

Scott cocked his head. "Were you at Isaac's?"

"He had this first edition Spider-Man—or was it Batman?" Matt recalled. "And we were gonna make a trade but then I went over there and I heard music. Everyone was having a good time and I saw Sean. He threw Jessica in the pool. And then—and then Bennett went in and—"

"Bennett?" Scott interrupted. "The hunter?"

"And then Camden, Isaac's jarhead brother," Matt continued as if Scott hadn't spoken. "He grabbed me. He thought it was funny."

Olivia pressed her lips together. "He threw you in."

"I-I yelled that I couldn't swim but nobody listened. I went under and I swallowed water and no one cared," tears drip down Matt's face. "I-I saw that Jessica had her hands down Sean's board shorts. Tucker's grabbing Kara. And I was drowning. I was dying and they were _laughing_."

The sadness, the complete devastation in Matt's tone made Olivia swallow harshly. Nothing justified him making Jackson kill these people but there was a part of her that understood. They had done something horrible to him and he got his revenge.

"All of a sudden, I was just—I was lying by the pool with Mr. Lahey right above me. He said to tell no one and that it was my fault," Matt face crumpled as he imitated Mr. Lahey, "'What little bastard doesn't know how to swim? You tell no one!' And I didn't. I didn't tell anyone," he shook his head, disgusted. "I would see them at school and they wouldn't even look at me. I'd wake up in the middle of the night, I'd gasp for breath. And my parents, they thought I was an asthmatic. They—they even gave me an inhaler. They didn't know that every time I closed my eyes, I was drowning…"

Olivia wished that Matt would have told his parents about what happened. She wished that they could have gotten him help. She wished that he hadn't turned into this person.

"You know about that little white light that they talk about, the one you see when you die?" Matt looked to Olivia and Scott; both of them nodded. "Well, I didn't see anything. Just darkness. Everything was dark…but then—then came the Argent's funeral and everything changed."

"What do you mean?" Olivia didn't know what he was talking about. How would Kate's funeral change everything?

"I was taking some photos and then, purely by accident, Lahey got in one of the photos," Matt told her. "I looked down at the screen on my camera and I just had this unbelievable rage inside of me. I-I just looked at him and I wanted to see him dead…The next day, he actually was."

"You know, Einstein was right," he said thoughtfully. "Imagination _is_ more important that knowledge. It was like something out of Greek mythology. Like—like the furies coming down to punish Orestes."

Scott shot Olivia a confused look and Matt caught it.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" he deadpanned at him.

"Was he the guy who stabbed out his eyes?"

"That was Oedipus," Olivia corrected him. "Furies are deities of vengeance. Their tears were blood and they had snakes as their hair. If a crime went unpunished, the furies would punish the instigator."

"Jackson is my fury," Matt declared, earning himself a disgusted look from Olivia. "You know, when I saw him the next night, it was like this bond had been cemented between the two of us. I knew he had killed Lahey for me and I knew he would do it again. So, I went to Tucker's garage," he scoffed. "I even paid for an oil change and guess what? He didn't even recognize me. So, when he wasn't looking, I took a shot of him from my camera. In a few hours, he was dead…So I took more pictures. All I had to do was take their picture and Jackson would take their life."

The lights flashed for a second before going out altogether. The station was bathed in darkness except for the few emergency lights.

"What is this?" Matt freaked out as Olivia looked around nervously. "What is this? What's happening? What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Scott told him.

A car pulled into the station's parking lot, its headlights flashing through the windows. Olivia barely had enough time to see more vehicles coming in before she was ducking to avoid the bullets being shot at the window. She ducked down behind a desk with Scott at her side, both of them looking at each other with wide, frightened eyes.

There was a flash as a couple of canisters were thrown through the window the bullets had just broken through. Smoke erupted out of them and within seconds, the room was full of it. Olivia coughed into her arm and tugged on Scott's sleeve, yelling, "Come on!"

Scott ran out of the room first, running straight to Jackson so Olivia could get around him. She dashed into the room where Stiles and Derek were being kept and knelt next to Stiles.

"Take him," Derek urged her. "Go!"

Olivia nodded and gathered Stiles' arms just as Scott joined them and Derek ran from the room. Scott helped Stiles to his feet and carried half of his weight as he and Olivia dragged him through the station with Jackson on their tail.

"Here, here, here," Olivia pointed to an upcoming room. They entered and set Stiles on one of the chairs. Scott quickly ran out of the room to see what was going on but Olivia stayed for a second. "I'm gonna go check on your dad and Ms. McCall," she told him. "Don't move, okay?"

"Seriously?" Stiles glared at her.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized before leaving the room and making sure the door was shut firmly behind her.

The smoke wasn't as bad the further she walked through the station to get to the holding room but she couldn't just worry about that. She had come across two grown men with huge-ass guns stalking through the building, looking for someone to shoot. She had to be careful when turning down halls and entering rooms.

Since they were already in the police station, she figured that the Argents were behind this attack. She was proven right when she turned into another hallway and ran into Allison.

She raised her hands when Allison aimed her bow at her. "Allison," she eyed the sharp arrowhead. "What are you doing?"

"Where's Derek?"

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "What? What are you even—"

"Where is Derek?" Allison spat at her with hard eyes. "Tell me where he is, Olivia."

"I don't know, Allison! What the hell is going on? What happened?"

She had come to trust the youngest Argent against her better judgement because she liked Allison. They were friends, good friends. They had sleepovers and study dates and talked to each other on the phone at night when they needed someone to talk to. And now her friend was pointing an arrow at her.

Allison's grip dropped and her eyes softened slightly. "You have to stay away from me, Olivia," she warned the shorter brunette. "I—it'll be safer for you if you just stay out of the way."

"What are you talking about?" Olivia was completely confused; Allison didn't answer as she pushed past her and stomped down the hallway. "Allison!"

Something else was going on that had Allison pulling an Anakin Skywalker ala _Revenge of the Sith._ If it had Allison turning on her friends, on Scott, then they were all in trouble.


	23. The First Battle

**[2x11; Battlefield]**

"You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out."

There, that seemed like an appropriate thing to say. It wasn't changing the subject even though Stiles didn't like the question that Miss Morrell had asked him, and it wasn't answering it, either. It was fact, a statement that was true. Stiles knew a lot of facts.

"It's called voluntary apnea," Stiles focused on the net of his lacrosse stick, threading it tightly to make sure that it was game-ready. "It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's…it's actually kind of peaceful."

"Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?"

How the hell did she get that from his answer? He was just telling her about drowning and how much the people who died suffered until they didn't. He didn't care about the fact that Matt had drowned in the river by the police station that night. There were no feelings, no attachments. Matt was dead and that was that.

Stiles exhaled out his nose. "I don't feel sorry for him."

"Can you feel sorry for the nine-year-old Matt who drowned?"

Morrell's face was blank, her voice was calm. She wasn't judgmental, she was good. Stiles had been going to sessions with her once a month since he started high school when his temper and ADHD had him struggling to adjust to the new environment. She gave good advice and helped him through things that were bothering him. Before his sessions started, he hadn't thought that talking about what he felt was going to work but she proved him wrong.

Still, that didn't mean he had to sympathize with Matt. "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one."

Morrell nodded and went to move on but Stiles wasn't finished yet.

"And by the way, my dad told me that they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer," he shook his head, disgusted. "And not just of her, though. I mean, he photoshopped himself into them. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. You know, he had built this whole fake relationship. So, yeah, maybe drowning when he was nine years old was what sent him off the rails but the dude was definitely riding the crazy train."

Morrell smiled softly. "One positive thing came out of this, though. Right?"

"Yeah," Stiles nodded, thinking about how Noah got his job as sheriff back. "Yeah, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us," he nervously fiddled with the lacrosse stick. "I don't know, it's just like tension when we talk. Same thing with Scott."

"Have you talked to him since that night?"

"No, not really," he went back to tightening the net. "I mean, he's got his own problems to deal with, though. I don't think he's talked to Allison, either, but that might be more her choice, you know? Her mom dying hit her pretty hard but I guess it brought her and her dad closer."

"What about your other friends, Jackson and Lydia?"

"Jackson…" he wouldn't consider the prick a friend but he'd answer anyway. "Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Actually, the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the one who seems the most normal."

"How's Olivia doing? Have you guys talked since the night at the station?" Morrell prodded. She was more than versed about Olivia Martin, Stiles' interest in her, and their slow and steady climb toward a relationship.

"Yeah and she seems fine, but," he shrugged. "she always seems fine. She was more concerned about me, to be honest."

"Maybe it helps her come to terms with her own feelings," Morrell theorized quietly. "You told me before that Olivia isn't one to share her feelings."

"I know, but she seemed to be better about that lately," _At least with me_, he added mentally.

Morrell hummed. "And what about you, Stiles? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?"

Stiles spit out the small length of rope he had been chewing on, tying it back to the net. "Why would you ask me that?" he didn't miss the fact that she looked pointedly at his lacrosse stick. "Ah…uh, no, I-I never actually play. But, hey, since one of my teammates is dead and another one's missing, who knows, right?"

"You mean Isaac," Morrell realized. "One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?"

Stiles quickly changed the subject. "You're still doing that no-notes thing, huh?" he pointed at her empty desk. "I still can't believe your memory's that good."

"How about we get back to you, Stiles?"

Stiles sighed heavily. "I'm fine," he lied. "Yeah, aside from the not sleeping, the jumpiness, the constant, overwhelming crushing fear that something terrible is about to happen."

"It's called hypervigilance," _Wasn't that what Mad-Eye Moody talked about in Harry Potter? _he tried to recall. _Livvy would know about it_. "the persistent feeling of being under threat."

"But it's not just a feeling, though," Stiles shook his head. He was familiar with what he felt when his anxiety went off the charts. That tight feeling in his chest, that was a panic attack. "It's like a panic attack. You know, like I can't even breathe."

"Like you're drowning?"

Stiles didn't even think about the comparison she was trying to make. "Yeah."

"So, if you're drowning and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very last moment, what if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in?"

"You do anyway," Stiles pointed out. "It's a reflex."

"But if you hold off until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"

"Not much time."

"But more time to fight your way to the surface? More time to be rescued?"

"More time to be in agonizing pain," Stiles argued, blinking rapidly. "I mean, did you forget about the part where you feel like your head's exploding?"

Morrell blinked at him. "If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?"

"But what if it just gets worse?" Stiles asked, fears racing through is mind. "What if it's agony now and then…and then it's just hell later on?"

"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said," Morrell leaned forward, demanding all his attention. "If you're going through hell, keep going."

That moment in Morrell's office, that quote that somehow encompassed Stiles' whole world in seven words, would stick with him for the rest of his life.

It smelled like rotted wood, blood, and smoke in the old Hale House. It made Olivia want to vomit and it wasn't just the scent alone that made her nauseous. She hadn't stepped foot in the Hale House since the fire and even when she went looking for Lydia two months earlier, she had refused to go in.

She didn't want the memories that this house gave her. There were good memories, sure, ones where she and Cora used to play dolls, Laura would read them fairy tales, and Derek taught her how to ride a bike. But the fire loomed over those like a shadow. Her mother died in the house, trapped in the basement like the rest of the Hale family. While Peter had escaped his own death, Grace Martin was suffocating from lack of fresh oxygen.

Suffice to say, she hated being there. But for Jackson, she'd spend time there if she had to. She needed to find a way to take care of the kanima without killing Jackson, since no one seemed concerned about that anymore, so if she had to spend time in the worn-down house to read a billion of moldy books, she would.

Derek stood at the other side of the table, helping her look for useful information. He was just slapping a book closed and tossing it back on the table when Erica and Boyd entered the room.

Derek stiffened and Olivia paused, looking from Derek to Erica and Boyd. The two betas had decided to leave Beacon Hills, to leave the pack. They weren't cut out for the supernatural war that raged around them, even if Derek had warned them from the start.

"You decided," Derek turned toward them. "When?"

Erica looked reluctant to tell him. "Tonight."

"Everyone's gonna be at the game," Boyd explained. "We figured it was the best time."

"It's not like we want to."

"What _do_ you want?" Derek asked Erica, stepping toward her and Boyd.

"Since I just turned sixteen a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license," Erica answered him. "I can't do that if I'm dead, you know."

Olivia bowed her head, thinking about Erica's words. She understood where they were coming from; they weren't family, they didn't know what was at stake, and they had no dog in the fight. They didn't want to die because of who they were or what pack they were in. When Derek bit Victoria Argent and she had to commit suicide because of their ridiculous hunter's code, he had declared war. The Argents weren't going down without a fight, but neither were they.

Still, Olivia would be sad to see Erica and Boyd go. They were pack, plain and simple.

"Well, I told you there was a price," Derek reminded them.

"Yeah but you didn't say it would be like this," Boyd defended themselves.

"But I told you how to survive," Derek raised his voice. "You do it as a pack. And you're not a pack without an alpha."

"We know."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, surprised at Boyd's statement. "You wanna look for another pack?" she knew they could see that she was hurt by that. Hell, Derek was hurt by it. "How are you even gonna find one?"

"We think we already did," Erica told her. "We were running in the woods last night and all of a sudden we heard all this howling. It was unbelievable."

Olivia shared a look with Derek, both of them almost betrayed. Erica and Boyd trusted random howling in the woods over them? Derek was the one who bit them, the one who gave them the gift of lycanthropy. They were Olivia's friends. They were pack.

"There must have been a dozen of them, maybe more," Boyd smiled in amazement.

"Yeah or maybe only two," Derek burst their bubble. "You know what the beau geste effect is?" they shook their heads. "If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift of tone, two wolves can sound like twenty."

Erica huffed, getting frustrated. "Look, that doesn't matter, okay? There's another pack out there. There's got to be," she raised her chin. "We've made up our minds."

"We lost, Derek," Boyd stated. "It's over. We're leaving."

"No, you're running," Derek snapped, getting angry like he always did to cover up the hurt. "And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running."

Olivia pressed her lips together as Erica glared at them, grabbed Boyd's hand, and dragged him out of the house. Derek turned back to the table, resting his hands on the warped wood, as his pale-green eyes flickered over to Olivia.

She was distracted, her wide eyes on the spot where Boyd and Erica had previously stood. When he inhaled, he knew why; he grabbed a sharp piece of glass that was resting on the table in front of him and spun around, whipping it at the intruder.

Peter caught the glass just as the point hit the skin of his throat. "I expected a slightly warmer welcome," he stated, lowering the glass. "but point taken."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at her father. She couldn't believe that he was standing right there in front of them. It wasn't a happy kind of disbelief, either. It was the kind that made you want to pull your hair out and punch someone in the face. He wasn't supposed to be alive. He wasn't supposed to be able to hurt anyone ever again.

It had been a shock to find out that Peter had come back from the dead. Derek had told her shortly after the showdown in the police station and she went quiet, not talking for the rest of the night while he stayed in her room, keeping vigil so she wouldn't have nightmares.

Peter had gotten into Lydia's head and manipulated her. That was what all the things that Lydia had been seeing were about. It was him, playing her mind from his grave underneath the floorboard. He got her to do some weird ritual that included drugging Derek with wolfsbane and using mirrors and moonlight—and honestly, it was hard for her to comprehend. Olivia was a smart girl and she believed in science, so how did that explain Peter coming back to life from some alpha blood and light from a full moon. Granted, the existence of werewolves was hard to comprehend, too.

"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply.

Peter grinned at her. "Hello to you, too, pumpkin. It's great to see you," he gave his attention to his nephew. "Quite the situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a month or so and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town."

His voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

Derek narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"Well, I want to help," Peter stated like it was the most obvious thing in the word. "You guys are family, my daughter and nephew. The only relatives that I have left. There's still a lot that I can teach you. Can we just talk?"

Peter finished his statement by placing a hand on Derek's shoulder. Derek stared at it in disgust while Olivia raised her eyebrows. This was going to end in a fight, she was betting on it.

"Sure," Derek agreed way too happily. "Let's talk."

He swatted away Peter's hand and pushed him, sending him flying into the stair case.

"Good talk," Olivia hummed as she stood from her seat. "I'm gonna leave before it get any worse."

She'd rather walk the mile back into town and order a ride from Lyft than stay and watch Derek and Peter fight. No, thank you.

"Liv, I brought your psycho father back from the dead," Lydia hissed at Olivia as they walked through the empty school hallways, heading toward the boys' locker room. "and you haven't said a word about it. It's been more than a week and nada."

"Because there's nothing to talk about," Olivia insisted stubbornly. "Peter's back, so what? I'll just ignore him."

"You used to visit him every week." Lydia thought she was in denial about how she felt about Peter. She knew Olivia was angry and she was justified, but you can't hate your father. Lydia had tried and she couldn't.

"That was before he murdered a bunch of people, bit me and Scott, almost killed you, and then manipulated you until you thought that you were crazy," Olivia pointed out. "That doesn't seem father material to me, Lyds."

"I mean, yeah, he's a psychopath, but—"

"But nothing," Olivia cut her off, sending her a sharp look. "I don't want to talk about him anymore."

"You know, one day you're gonna explode from all those emotions you keep bottled up inside of you."

Olivia snorted, a little amused. "When did you get your doctorate in psychology, Lydia? I think I missed the ceremony."

"Very funny," Lydia nudged her as they turned down the hallway where locker room was located. "All right, change of subject. You got Stiles a birthday present."

Olivia grimaced, looking down at the wrapped package in her hands. She had hoped Lydia wouldn't bring it up, since she was already tripping out about it, but like any older sister, she just had to tease her about it. Yes, it was Stiles' seventeenth birthday and yes, she got him a gift but it wasn't a big deal. It was a friendly gift. People gave their friends birthday gifts still, right?

"Yeah, and…?" Olivia's strategy was to just face Lydia head on.

"And you're giving it to him before the region championships," Lydia pointed out needlessly. "You're going to sneak into the locker room to give it to him. Sounds awfully like what I would do when I was dating Jackson."

Olivia rolled her eyes as they came to a stop outside the boys' locker room. "I'm giving it to him now because I don't know if he'll be busy later."

"Mmhm…"

"And I don't give belated birthday presents," she huffed. "It's tacky."

"Yeah, sure," Lydia nodded like Olivia was making sense. "Well, you better go on, then. I'll wait by the concessions for you."

"Get me some some—"

"Air Heads, I know."

Lydia walked away and Olivia inhaled deeply before entering the locker room. Boys were in various states of undress as she walked through the aisles but she ignored them. She spotted Jackson and Danny by their lockers, and usually she would have wished them good luck, but she wanted to give Stiles his present and get out of there before she could get in trouble with Coach.

She found Stiles by his locker, pulling his maroon jersey over his gray compression shirt. "Hey."

Stiles flailed at the sound of her voice, almost tripping backward over the bench he stood in front of. He quickly found his balance and fixed his jersey before plastering a cheesy smile on his face at the sight of her.

Olivia's heart practically turned to goo.

"Hey, Livvy!" he greeted her enthusiastically. "What—what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to give you this," she held out his present, looking more confident than she felt. "Happy birthday, Stiles."

"What?" he quickly took the present from with her a grin. "I can't believe you remembered my birthday."

"Oh," she shrugged awkwardly. "um, yeah, you told me a couple weeks ago."

"Yeah, I guess I did," he ripped away the wrapping paper and gaped at what was inside. "You didn't, Olivia."

Apparently, he liked the present. She had won an auction online where she was able to score a signed mini bat from the Mets. It was Stiles' favorite baseball team and when she saw the low price for an item she knew he loved, she didn't hesitate to get it for him. She also made a joke in the card about how crazy he was for cheering for the Mets, knowing it would get a laugh out of him.

Olivia blinked in surprise when Stiles wrapped her up into a tight hug. It didn't take even a second for her to respond to his affection, burying her face into his warm neck. She couldn't help but notice that his skin was soft and he smelt really good.

"Thanks, Livvy," Stiles breathed when he let go of her. "This is—this is great."

"You're welcome," Olivia smiled at him. "So, are you nervous for the game?"

"Nah," Stiles shook his had nonchalantly. "I probably won't play, so…"

"I don't see why you wouldn't. You're good."

"Have you actually seen me play or are you trying to make me feel good about myself?"

Olivia opened her mouth to respond and paused when Stiles quirked an eyebrow at her.

"I knew it."

"You did not!" Olivia protested, playfully slapping his arm. "I do think you're good."

"Why'd you hesitate then?"

"I wasn't hesitating, I was taking a breath."

"Who takes a breath for that long? It was like you were getting ready to perform some dramatic-ass Shakespeare monologue."

"I don't even like Shakespeare."

"You got a perfect score on your essay about Othello."

"How'd you know what grade I got?"

Suddenly, there was some loud feedback as Coach readied his megaphone. Olivia and Stiles jumped apart in shock, not even realizing that they were moving closer together during there playful banter, to look over at him.

"Good morning," Coach spoke into the megaphone, dead serious. "In less than an hour, aircraft from here will be joining others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind."

_What the hell?_ Olivia mouthed to Stiles, completely confused.

Stiles just shook his head at her.

"Mankind," Coach mused. "That word should have a new meaning for all of us today."

"Does he do this every year?" she whispered to Stiles.

He nodded. "Every year."

"Dear God."

"No kidding."

Coach continued on, "We are fighting for our right to live!"

"Yeah!" most of the team shouted.

Olivia perked up in realization. "Wait, isn't this?"

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed. "it's the speech from _Independence Day._ It's his favorite movie."

"But as the day the world declared in one voice, we will not go quietly into the night!"

"I mean, the speech from _Braveheart_ would be better than this," Olivia snorted. "Couldn't he rip off _Friday Night Lights_ or something? _Glory Road_? You know, anything from any sport movie?"

"I don't think he cares," Stiles chuckled.

"Today," Coach ended his dramatic speech. "we celebrate our Independence Day!"

"Yeah!" the players cheered once again, sufficiently hyped up for the game. Olivia couldn't believe that the speech actually worked.

She and Stiles stiffened at the same time as Gerard slithered in next to Coach. "Well spoken, Coach," he praised the man. "I might have chosen something with a little more historical value but there's no denying your passion."

Coach gave him an offended look but Gerard completely missed it.

"And while I haven't been here long, there's no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school," the Argent patriarch continued, looking around at the lacrosse players. "I know you'll all be brilliant tonight, even with only one co-caption leading you."

Olivia gave Stiles a questioning look but he furrowed his eyebrows, not knowing why Scott wouldn't be playing, either.

"Now, I'm your principal but I'm also a fan. So, don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team," Gerard grinned creepily. "Get out there and _murder_ them."

"You heard the man!" Coach yelled. "Asses on the field!"

Olivia shivered at the menacing look on his face as he smirked and left the locker room. "He's probably the worst person on this earth," she mumbled, turning back to Stiles. "This is going to be bad."

Stiles' expression turned worried. "You think?"

"Yeah, I do." She wished that it wouldn't but everything seemed to point in that direction. The whole day, her body had been on edge, like she was waiting for someone to get hurt. The feeling was unsettling and had looking over her shoulder wherever she went.

Argent hunters were brutal. They had proved it time after time.

"You're gonna be careful, right?" Stiles grabbed her hands, squeezing them nervously.

"You don't have to worry about me," she shook her head, squeezing him back. "There's not really anything I can do."

"You can still get hurt, though."

"I won't," Olivia assured him. "Just focus on the game, yeah? Good luck, Stiles."

Stiles smiled lightly, not liking the fact that she was brushing off his concern. "Thanks, Livvy."

"And I'll be careful, okay?" she noticed the look in his eye.

Stiles nodded in satisfaction. "Good," he let go of her hands and ran a finger down across the right shoulder of the jersey she was wearing. "Nice jersey, by the way."

Olivia's cheeks flushed; she had forgotten that Lydia forced her into a mock-up of Stiles' jersey, complete with his last name and the twenty-four on each side. "Oh, um, yeah," she nodded nervously. "Good luck, Stiles."

She practically sprinted away from him and out of the locker room, cursing Lydia the whole time.

Stiles nervously bounced his leg as he thought about what Olivia had said to him earlier. Things were going to get bad. He knew that, yet he couldn't shake the feeling he had inside of him. He was nervous, scared that someone he loved would get hurt, and angry that there was even a situation like this to begin with. Most of all, he felt helpless. There wasn't anything he could do to help. He couldn't help Scott. He couldn't help Olivia or Derek. He couldn't even help himself.

It frustrated the fuck out of him because he had that determination inside of him, he just couldn't act on it. He couldn't go up against a hunter or a werewolf, let alone a kanima, and make it out of the fight. He couldn't even protect his dad from Matt, so how the hell would he be able to protect Olivia when the Argents came after her?

He couldn't just stand by and watch the action unfold while people got hurt. He had to do something.

"Is your dad coming?" Scott broke him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," Stiles looked to the bleachers for a second, seeing his dad already settled in a row near they bottom. "he's already here."

Scott nodded. "You see Allison?"

No, he hadn't, and he didn't think they would at all. Allison had been absent since the night of the full moon when her mom had killed herself. She didn't respond to Scott at all, she was angry with Olivia for siding with Derek—though he didn't know what Allison expected Olivia to even do in that situation—and she was determined to get revenge on the Hale pack. She had dived into the deep end and Stiles was worried she couldn't swim.

"No," Stiles shook his head. "You know what's going on?"

Scott exhaled heavily. "Not yet."

"But it's going to be bad, isn't it?" Stiles knew it would but hearing it from Scott made if feel more real. "I mean, like people screaming and running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming—that kind of bad?"

It was quiet for a second as Scott looked over at him; it unnerved him. "Looks like it."

Stiles inhaled shakily, his eyes starting to sting. "Scott, the other night, seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt while I'm just lying there and I can't even move," he sniffed and looked back at his best friend. "it just—I want to help, you know? But I can't do the things that you can't do. I can't—"

"It's okay," Scott's voice was soft as he nodded at Stiles in assurance.

And Stiles was glad that out of every other guy in their class, Scott was the one who was his best friend. Because Scott got it. He got that Stiles was afraid but willing to do anything to help. He knew that Stiles felt trapped, sitting on the sidelines while everyone else fought. He understood Stiles. And Stiles knew Scott just as well.

They were lucky to have the relationship they had. It wasn't often that kind of loyalty came around and there it was, each of them sitting next to it.

Stiles tried to make the topic lighter, even if he failed. "We're losing, dude."

Luckily, Coach was there to pep things up. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked him incredulously, having only heard the last statement of their conversation. "The game hasn't even started. Now, put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenberg."

"What?" Stiles perked up, looking around for Coach's most-hated player. "What happened to Greenberg?"

"What happened to Greenberg?" Coach scoffed. "He sucks. You suck slightly less."

Stiles raised his eyebrows in shock. "I'm playing?" he pointed to himself. "On the field? With the team?"

_Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. _

"Yeah, unless you'd rather play with yourself."

"I already did that today, twice," Stiles told him absentmindedly, too shocked about the fact that he was playing to notice what he had just revealed.

Scott snickered, making him realize what he said.

"Just get the hell out there!" Coach ordered him.

Stiles squeaked nervously and gathered his lacrosse stick and helmet, running onto the field with the rest of his teammates. On the bleachers, Olivia and Lydia had just taken a seat next to Melissa and Noah, when they noticed what Stiles was doing.

"Oh, no," Noah groaned. "Why is my son running out to the field?"

Olivia perked up, finding Stiles immediately. She knew that he'd get to play today. It was a great opportunity for him to show that he was actually athletic and good at lacrosse. She wasn't lying when she said she thought he was good.

"Because he's on the team?"

"He is," Noah confirmed blankly before realizing the excitement of the situation. "He's on the team. He's on the field," he stood up, throwing his arms into the air as he cheered, "My son is on the field!"

_Okay, that was adorable_, Olivia mused, sharing a grin with Lydia.

The game started shortly after Stiles ran onto the field and it wasn't going well, to say the least. The first quarter went by fast, with the opposing team scoring two goals within eleven minutes. Every time the Beacon Hills players had the ball, it was a bad play or someone would foul out. When the ball went to Stiles, it always seemed to miss his net.

The next time he got the ball, he actually caught it in his net. Unfortunately, he was too busy celebrating to notice the two large defense players sprinting his way. There was an audible _thwack_ as he was tackled to the ground.

Olivia winced while Melissa sighed. "He's probably just warming up."

She nodded in agreement but her hope was quickly dashed when the ball was tossed to Stiles yet again. He ran backwards in hopes to get it, but ended up tripping over his own feet.

Okay, _maybe_ she hadn't seen Stiles do anything but run fast. In her defense, she thought that would translate into being good on the field.

"He's just a little nervous," Lydia tried to console Olivia and Noah, who were both cringing in on themselves. "There's plenty of time to turn it around."

As if the world was disagreeing with her, Stiles was tackled. The crowd booed loudly; Noah hid his face in his hands.

The new quarter started and when Scott went to enter the game, Coach pushed him right back onto the bench. Luckily, Isaac appeared, dressed for the game and ready to enter.

Olivia sighed in relief, glad that he hadn't gone with Erica and Boyd. She was closest to Isaac out of the three of them and she had been pretty sad when he learned that he was planning on leaving with the other two. He didn't, though. He was here to help.

_Erica…Boyd…Erica…Boyd…_

Olivia winced when she heard the whispers, the tingling that she had been feeling all day getting more intense in her stomach, chest, and legs. Erica and Boyd were in trouble and she didn't know if it was this so-called pack they had discovered or if the Argents got to them.

She quickly pulled out her phone and texted them both, asking if they were okay. She also messaged Derek, giving him a heads-up on what she was feeling.

Isaac entered the game for the second quarter and it was chaos. Instead of actually playing the game and trying to score, he spent the time tackling players from his own team. As more and more of his teammates went down, Olivia figured out what he was doing. He was making sure that Scott could play—there was no way that Coach would forfeit instead of putting Scott on the field.

It was smart and she was impressed. Until Jackson tackled Isaac and the team paramedics had to run onto the field. From what Olivia could see, Isaac couldn't move anything, which meant that Jackson had used the kanima venom on him.

_Isaac, Isaac, Isaac…_

Melissa had jumped off the bleachers to run onto the field in order to talk to Scott but she stayed put. She already knew that something was going on and she had learned from Scott earlier that Gerard was now in control of Jackson, the old bastard. This was part of the war, a battle to be won.

The rest of the quarter went by quickly and then it was halftime. The whispering of Isaac's name had gotten so intense that she had to run down to Scott as he rested, telling him and Stiles that something was happening to Isaac inside of the school.

Scott had assured her that he'd take care of it, since there wasn't really a way for her to defend Isaac on her own, and took off inside of the school. Olivia told Stiles that he was doing a great job with a horribly fake smile that he quickly saw through before going back to her seat on the bleachers.

The third quarter started and Scott was still absent. Beacon Hills were down by two points. And then, the fourth quarter started and everything changed. Players from both teams clashed together, sending the ball rolling down the field. It stopped right in front of Stiles, who stared at it like it was a foreign object for a moment.

And then he scooped it up into his net and took off down the field. None of the other players even knew he had the ball, the field between him and goal wide open and clear. Olivia jumped to her feet, cheering loudly with Lydia, as he raced to get there before the other team's defense could catch up.

Olivia was pretty sure she could hear him screeching as he looked back at his huge opponents and when he paused just in front of the goal, she yelled, "Shoot it, Stilinski!"

Stiles whipped the ball into the net, scoring his first goal in his first game.

Olivia screamed in excitement, hugging Lydia as they both jumped up and down. Next to them, Noah was going crazy with pride and Melissa was equally excited, yelling Stiles' name.

With two minutes left in the game, Stiles was on fire. He caught the ball from his teammate and sprinted down the field, twirling around the opposing team's defense like he was made for the sport. He easily scored, tying up the game. The whole crowd was on their feet, cheering him on. Olivia was so proud she felt like crying. Like, actual _crying_. What had love done to her.

_Holy shit_, she paused in realization. _Love? I love Stiles Stilinski?_

She didn't have time to focus on that. There was a minute left in the game and one goal to win.

Stiles didn't disappoint. He scooped up that lacrosse ball and took off, his teammates running after him and shouting in encouragement. Olivia waited anxiously and then screamed excitedly when he scored the winning goal, goosebumps erupting all over her body.

He won the game. He did it. Did she fucking call it or what?

And then the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the game, the crowd roared in excitement, and the lights around the field all went out at once.

_Jackson…Jackson…Jackson…JACKSON!_

"Jackson?!" Olivia screamed, pressing her hands against her tingling chest.

The crowd was screaming as chaos erupted. They were running down the bleachers and heading toward the field and the parking lot. Lydia was tugging on her arm, and Melissa and Noah had taken off, seeing if they could do anything to help the situation.

Olivia was frozen. Something was wrong with Jackson, something worse than she ever felt.

"Liv, you're crying," Lydia said frantically; Olivia hadn't noticed. "What's wrong with Jackson? Is he okay? Liv!"

Everything sped up at once. Olivia grabbed Lydia's hand and jumped off the bleachers, running onto the field as the lights came back on one by one. There was already a crowd in the middle of the field, surrounding something.

"Somebody's hurt," they heard a guy say as they passed him. "Somebody's down on the field."

Olivia's stomach dropped. It was Jackson. It had to be.

She and Lydia pushed past the crowd in order to get to the middle to see what was going on. Jackson was on the ground, unconscious, with Melissa hovering over him, doing chest compressions.

"He's not breathing," she said rapidly. "No pulse."

"Oh, my God, there's blood," Lydia whimpered, her breath catching. "There's a lot of blood."

Olivia shook her head in complete shock. Jackson wasn't supposed to be dead. He was the kanima, the kanima that Gerard controlled. And now he was dead? He couldn't be dead.

_He couldn't be. _

"Get down here!" Melissa barked at her, in full nurse mood. "Get down her and hold his head."

Olivia scrambled to obey, dropping to her knees right by Jackson's head. She tilted his head up just as Melissa instructed her to do and tried not to shed anymore tears. Lydia was watching. Lydia was watching Jackson die and she had to be strong for her.

And then all the breath left her as the whispers started up again.

_Stiles. Stiles. Stiles. Stiles. _

"Where's my son?" Noah shouted from a few feet away, looking around the thinning crowd. "Where's Stiles? Where the hell is my son?"


	24. He Knew

**[2x12; Master Plan]**

Sixty-five percent of people living in America believed that they only use ten percent of their brain. Scientists and doctors debunked the myth, of course, but people still believe the outdated rumor. The human brain is complex; it performs millions of actions within a second, controls your emotions and behaviors, stores memories, and can solve mathematical equations.

Olivia knows firsthand because it sure feels like all three pounds of her brain were working overtime. It wasn't just the biological features, like her grief for Jackson or her worry for Stiles. It was the supernatural ones, too. Whatever came with her being an anchor was even more distracting than her emotions or the chaos going on around her.

It was the constant whispering in her ears, even though no one was there beside her. It was a distinct feeling that she almost couldn't describe; a weird zap in her temple that told her many of her pack members were hurt and a murky feel of where they were located. It was the overwhelming feeling to move, to stop fighting whatever was inside of her and find where Stiles had been taken.

"Olivia, hun, are you okay?"

Olivia blinked at the gruff voice and quickly focused, nodding her head at Noah. "Yeah, sorry Sheriff."

Noah waved her off and continued telling her, Scott, and Isaac what he had planned on doing. "I've got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson," he listed. "I've got an APB out on Stiles. His Jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means…Hell, I don't know what that means."

Olivia knew what it meant and so did Scott and Isaac. Gerard had taken Stiles as soon as that game buzzer went off, taking him who knows where.

"Look," he sighed heavily, shoving his little notebook into his pocket. "if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if any of you see him…"

"We'll call you," Isaac assured him kindly.

"He's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something," Scott tried to make Noah feel better. Anything was better than telling him a geriatric psychopath—in the words of her father—had kidnapped him. "We'll find him."

Noah nodded solemnly. "Yeah…I'll see you, okay?" he patted Olivia on the shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss."

She managed a sad smile before he walked away. "Thank you."

Was Jackson her loss? Yes, in the sense they were friends and he had died out on that field, yes, she lost Jackson. But there was something in her head, that supernatural side of her, that told her that Jackson wasn't as dead as they thought he was. And it didn't make sense that Gerard would just kill off his best player so soon to the final battle because she knew that Jackson would never kill himself. It was Jackson, for crying out loud.

"McCall," Coach approached them now, hardly bothering with the fact that Olivia was in the locker room. "We need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

There weren't the right words but Coach's tone told them that he was grieving Jackson just like his players were.

"I know, Coach."

"All right," Coach faltered for a second. "I mean, I know I yell a lot but it's not like I hate you guys…Well, I hate Greenberg, but, you know, that's different. It's Greenberg," he chuckled a little bit before sobering. "I'm just saying we—I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

It was the sweetest thing that Olivia had ever heard Coach say before. It actually kind of shocked her.

Scott looked just as shocked as her. "I will."

"I know," Coach nodded and then patted Olivia on the shoulder. "Martin."

Okay, that was two times she was comforted about Jackson out of nowhere. Was she not hiding her emotions as well as she thought or was it because people had actually noticed that she and Jackson were more friendly than their cold exteriors made it seem?

As soon as Coach was shut away in his office, Scott turned to Olivia and Isaac. "Is that everyone?"

Olivia looked around while Isaac used his senses to make sure no one was left in the locker room but them. "I think so."

Scott ripped off the door of Stiles' locker, tossing the warped metal onto the floor.

"You're gonna find him by scent?"

"Yeah, we both are." Scott picked up one of Stiles' shirts and tossed Isaac a shoe.

"But how come you get his shirt and I get a shoe?" Isaac complained.

"Stop whining," Olivia scolded him as Scott tensed up. She and Isaac followed his line of sight to see Derek walking into the locker room alone.

"We need to talk," he said seriously.

Olivia should have known that he wasn't alone; Peter dramatically stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to Scott. "All of us."

Scott gaped at him. "Holy shit!" his amazement quickly faded and turned to anger. "What the hell is this?"

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you," Olivia winced; that was her bad. "Peter's alive."

Scott gave her an obvious look and then turned back to Derek. "And you're, what, working with him?"

Derek cocked his head calmly, though Olivia could see the irritation in his eyes. "You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station."

_Woah, hold up_, Olivia whipped her head in Scott's direction. _I didn't know that._

"Scott?"

"Okay, hold on," Scott held his hands up defensively. "He—he threatened to kill my mom so I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?"

_Okay, he had a good point_, Olivia admitted to herself.

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," Peter interjected casually. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."

Olivia, Scott, and Derek glared at him, all three of them yelling, "Shut up!"

Peter rolled his eyes while Isaac ducked down to speak quietly in Olivia's ear, though they all heard him. "Who is he?"

"His name's Peter," Olivia informed him, all the while glaring at her father. "He's my dad. He's the one who bit Scott, me, and Lydia. He tried to kill everyone, so Stiles and Jackson set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat."

Peter waved at him. "Hi."

"That's good to know," Isaac whispered awkwardly; Olivia patted his arm.

"Yeah, how is he even alive?" Scott asked loudly.

"Look, short version is he knows how to stop Jackson," Derek declared. "and maybe how to save him."

Olivia raised an eyebrow in surprise, giving Derek a questioning look. He nodded ever so slightly at her, causing her to inhale deeply. Hope settled in her chest; if Jackson wasn't really dead like she thought, maybe they could stop him without killing him dead.

"Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead," Isaac told them the news.

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"

"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott confirmed. "It just happened on the field."

"I'm gonna be honest and just come out and say it," Olivia spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't think Jackson's dead."

Scott looked at her in disbelief. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, I can't explain it," Olivia's eye caught Peter's, catching his barely there smirk. "I just know that he's not dead. Not completely, anyway."

"Gerard wanted this to happen," Peter stated thoughtfully. "We need to figure out why. Something tells me the window of opportunity is quickly closing."

"Shh!"

Stiles reached above him, going for the cables wrapped around Erica's wrists. He ignored the muffle sounds of her protests chorusing with Boyd's and he shouldn't have. As soon as he touched the wires he was zapped, causing him to hiss and jump back.

"Ow!"

"They were trying to warn you," Gerard Argent slowly walked down the steps into whatever basement they were keeping him, Erica, and Boyd in. "It's electrified."

God, he hated this old man more than he had hated anyone ever. He was pretty sure the guy got his rocks off on torturing innocent people. The Argent patriarch was completely fucked up. Killing werewolves was one thing—a very bad thing—but killing innocent werewolves, especially teenagers, was a whole other level of cruel. He couldn't believe that Allison had been swept up in all of it. He thought—hell, they all thought—she was better than that.

Stiles swallowed his nerves. "What are you doing with them?"

"At the moment, just keeping them comfortable," Gerard answered, casually leaning against the cement wall. "There's no point in torturing them, they won't give Derek up. The instinct to protect their alpha's too strong."

As if hanging two sixteen-year olds by the ceiling with live wires wasn't torture.

"Okay," he played it cool. "So, what are you doing with me? Because Scott can find me, all right? He knows my scent. It's pungent, it's more like a stench. He could find me even if I was buried at the bottom of a sewer covered in fecal matter and urine."

Gerard looked annoyed at his rambling. _Good_. "You have a knack for creating a vivid picture, Mr. Stilinski," he drawled, slowly walking toward him. "Let me paint one of my own…Scott McCall finds his best friend bloodied and beaten to a pulp."

Stiles stiffened, nervously eyeing the ten inches between him and Gerard.

"How does that sound?"

"I think I might prefer more of a still-life or landscape, you know?" Stiles couldn't help but be a smartass. When in fear, mouth your way out of it—that was his motto. "What—what are you, ninety? Look, I can probably kick your ass up and down this room."

Gerard's hand came out and backhanded him before he could blink. Boyd and Erica gasped as he fell to the cement floor while Gerard grabbed the front of his jersey to add to his beating.

"Okay, wait," Stiles spat out some blood after a punch to the face. "Wait, wait, wait!"

Down the road, where Olivia was illegally driving Derek's Camaro, she winched, cupping her cheek with her hand. At the more urgent whispering in her head, telling her tales of Stiles' misfortune, she pressed on the gas and pulled to a stop across the street from the Argents house.

She had taken the car keys from Derek and just started driving. She stopped fighting the feeling in her that could just find Stiles and like it take control. And it worked, it led her right to the Argents.

Now the only problem was getting him out of there without Gerard killing her. She didn't think that Allison would be any help—and she sure as hell hoped that the youngest Argent had nothing to do with Stiles' kidnapping—but there was one Argent who was more moral than the others. Chris Argent had always been about the Argent code and Stiles didn't fall under it at all. He was innocent and he was human. He was good.

So, Chris Argent was her only hope at the moment. How ironic, a Hale hoping an Argent would help them.

She got out of the Camaro and snuck over to the huge house. She couldn't just ring the doorbell, so she was careful not to be seen by any rogue hunters as she peeked into the windows on the main floor, trying to see a glimpse of Mr. Argent. It was her luck that he walked into the kitchen just as she peeked into one of the windows there.

She gently knocked on the window to get his attention, flinching when he pulled out his gun in surprise.

Olivia raised her hands, showing him that she meant no harm, and Mr. Argent sighed. He walked over to the window and opened it; there were worry lines all over his face and a sadness to him that was almost shocking.

"You're not safe here, Olivia."

"I know I'm not," Olivia whispered. "but Stiles, he's human."

Mr. Argent nodded, dragging a hand down his stressed face. "I know."

"You know, you guys say you're all about protecting humans against werewolves but look at you," she shook her head. "Stiles was kidnapped by your father. He's in this house, he's _human_, and he's _hurt_."

"You're right, Olivia," Mr. Argent said quietly. "Just—just wait here for a second. Don't let yourself be seen."

Olivia nodded and stepped back from the window as he shut. She waited in the dark, shifting from foot to foot, for five minutes before Mr. Argent appeared, helping a black-and-blue Stiles with him.

"Oh, my God, Stiles," Olivia hissed, stepping forward to gently cup his face in her hands; Stiles winced. "Are you okay? What the hell did he do to you?"

"Livvy, I'm okay," Stiles croaked as she left go of his face to quickly check him for any other injuries. He grabbed her hands, keeping them still. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Olivia shook her head and shook his hand away, pressing her fingertips against his chin to tilt his head. "Look at you."

He took them from his face and pressed a quick kiss against them before squeezing her hand. "I'm _okay_," he enjoyed the surprised look on her face. "I just want to go home."

Olivia nodded shakily. "Your dad's been worried about you," as they started to over to the Camaro, she nodded once at Mr. Argent, who nodded back. "He put out an APB on you."

"Really?" Stiles' voice was soft, defeated; it made Olivia's heart break. "Wait, did you drive here? Derek let _you_ drive?"

"Why do you say that with such surprise?" she opened the passenger door for him and he hesitated before getting in.

He waited until she was in the driver's seat before he responded. "Livvy, you don't have your license and I've heard Derek grumble about your driving before."

"Derek grumbles about everything," Olivia rolled her eyes and started the car. "Let's get you home."

Whey they arrived at his house, Olivia stayed in the living room while Stiles went upstairs. His dad was in his room, talking on the phone with a deputy. He looked completely lost, his voice desolate. "Yeah, I'm not finding any clues here," he rubbed his forehead. "Listen if he—if he shows up at the hospital—okay, thanks," he ended the call and groaned, "Come on, Stiles. Where the hell are you?"

"I'm right here," Noah whipped around at Stiles' voice, his eyes hardening when he saw the damage done to his face. His touch was so gentle compared to the look in his eyes that it made Stiles start to tear up. "It's okay, Dad. It's okay."

Noah moved his face slightly so he could get a better look at the shiner under his right eye. "Who did it?"

"It's okay," Stiles' voice wavered. He didn't want to lie but what was he supposed to do? Tell his dad that his ancient principal beat him up because he was in the middle of a war between werewolves and hunters? "It was just a couple of kids from the other team. You know, they were really pissed about losing and I was—I was mouthing off, you know?"

Because that's what he did. He mouthed off because he couldn't do anything else. He couldn't protect himself, he couldn't protect his dad or Scott or Olivia.

"The next thing I know—"

Noah cut off his explanation. "Who was it?"

"Dad, I don't know. I didn't even see them, really."

Noah's chest heaved with anger. "I want descriptions."

"Dad, come on. It's not even that bad."

"I'm calling that school," Noah declared, getting worked up. "I'm calling them and I'll personally got down there and I'm gonna pistol-whip those little bastards!"

"Dad!" Stiles raised his voice in order to get through to Noah. "I just—I said I was okay."

Oh, how he wished that his voice didn't break on that last word. His dad could see right through him, right through the strong front he had on in order to convince _himself_ that he was okay. But he wasn't. Not really.

"God," Noah sighed sadly, grabbing the back of Stiles' neck to pull him into a warm hug.

Stiles buried his head into his dad's shoulder, trying to keep himself from acting like an eight-year-old kid and completely breaking down into tears. He could feel Noah shaking though, maybe it was his adrenaline dying down, and it threw him. Tears stung his eyes as he gripped onto the back of Noah's jacket, clenching the material with his fingers.

Stiles stared at the framed picture of him and his mom that was always placed on nightstand right next to his Adderall. It was taken a year or so before she had gotten sick and they were at the park, him sitting in her lap on one of the swings. They were both smiling happily and Stiles even had a little red mustache from the fruit punch he must have been drinking.

He wondered what his mom would have thought about everything going on in his life. Would she be proud of him? Would she be glad that she stuck to his best friend's side and helped out the best he could? Or would she be disappointed that he got himself into the mess in the first place?

He didn't want to think about his mom being disappointed in him, though. There was already too much disappointment racing through his own head, so he couldn't handle his mom's too. In the middle of all this mess, this war, he had been the one who needed to be rescued. He was the one who had Olivia travel into enemy territory just to make sure he was okay. He was the one who couldn't help Erica and Boyd.

He felt so useless, unneeded. A human in the middle of a group of supernatural beings.

"Dad, I'm fine," Stiles called when there was a light knock on the door. He had told Noah to send Olivia home so he could mope around, so it couldn't be her. Another knock; Stiles scrambled off his bed, annoyed. "Dad, I said I'm fine."

He roughly pulled open the door, only to deflate when he saw that it was Olivia on the other side.

"Told your dad to send me away, huh?" she walked into his room without an invitation.

Stiles sighed and shut the door after her, rubbing the back of his neck. "Livvy, it's not like that. I just want to be alone."

"I understand that," she nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. He was distracted when he noticed that she was still wearing his jersey. "and I get it, but shit's hit the fan, Stiles. Jackson's in this weird stage of metamorphosis, Allison's off the rails—"

Stiles scoffed. "And I'm supposed to do something about that?" he asked bitterly. "I think you're forgetting who you're talking to, Olivia. I'm not Scott, I can't just swoop in and save the day."

"You're not Scott, you're Stiles," Olivia's voice was sharp and her cobalt-blue eyes held a hint of sadness and irritation to them as she stepped toward him. "No one's asking you to be anyone but yourself. We don't need another Scott, we need you."

"Well, Stiles can't help."

"Stiles _can_," Olivia corrected him, shaking her head. "You're the glue, sweetcheeks. You hold us all together and you find out what's wrong and you help solve it. You're the one who knew that Matt was controlling Jackson, you're the one who found out that Peter was the alpha…"

Stiles' heart raced as Olivia ranted passionately. Anyone else would have thought that she was angry, and maybe she was, but not Stiles. He could see the love in her eyes, the sadness at the way he felt about himself, the disbelief that he wasn't believing her, the urgency to get through his thick head and make him see sense.

"So, don't you dare say that you can't help, okay? Because we need you—I need you," Olivia finished passionately and eyed the smile on Stiles' face. "You're smiling. Why are you smiling?"

"I'm not smiling."

"Yes, you are," she marched up at him and pressed a finger to the corner of his quirked lips. "Right there, you're smiling. I was being so serious and so heartfelt and you're just smiling at me?"

"You so like me."

Olivia looked caught off guard by his statement, making his grin widen. "Stiles!"

"What? It's obvious," Stiles chuckled. "Can you repeat the last part. Where you said you needed me?"

"I'm gonna take it back."

"You can't take it back. Nice try, though."

It was crazy how Olivia could just snap him out of something. He'd been in the middle of a tense self-hate one-person-only session when she'd come up to his room without being invited and told him what was really going on. And what she said had actually worked, too. Stiles was a stubborn bastard, everyone knew that, and he didn't like being wrong. But damn it if she didn't change his mind, even if it would only work for a little while.

This was why he loved her. Olivia hid her emotions but she wasn't a robot. She cared almost as deeply as anyone he had ever met. She was protective and comforting and beautiful and smart and nerdy. She was serious but she was able to laugh, too. There was an innocence about her but no naivety. She was blunt but still cared about how someone felt. They bickered like crazy but she melted around him.

And he was just as affected by her.

Stiles opened his mouth to tell Olivia that he loved her—like, he was actually _in_ love with her—but at the same moment, her phone rang. She apologized, telling him that it was Derek, and put the phone on speaker.

"What's happening with Jackson?" she asked her cousin without a greeting.

"_Scott and Isaac say that he's in some kind of transparent casing. We think it's the venom that comes out of his claws."_

"That is horrifying," Stiles mumbled under his breath, earning a look of agreement from Olivia.

"_They also say that he's starting to move,"_ Derek added. "_Peter and I found something in the Hale archives. Apparently, what we've seen from Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape."_

Olivia sighed in frustration. "Meaning that he can evolve?"

"_Yeah, into something worse_," Derek confirmed. "_Look, we're meeting with Scott and Isaac in the warehouse district. They're bringing Jackson with them_."

"Okay, we'll meet you there."

"_You need to bring Lydia,"_ Peter injected and Stiles was glad that Olivia told him about his resurrection earlier in the week because that would have been quite the shock. "_I think she can save Jackson."_

Olivia blinked in shock. "Uh, yeah, I'll get her. See you soon." She slipped the phone into her pocket. "Come on, let's go."

Stiles hesitated. "Wait, Livvy," he grabbed her arm so she wouldn't leave the room. "I don't think you should go."

Olivia raised her eyebrows at him and repeated his words, as if she didn't hear him right. "You don't think I should go?"

"That's what I said."

"Stiles, if I can help Jackson by bringing Lydia to him, I will."

"You could get hurt."

"I don't care about me," Olivia waved him off.

"Yeah, well, I do," Stiles raised his voice, catching her off guard. "I'd be devastated if you get hurt and if you die, I'll literally got out of my fucking mind."

Olivia's tense body relaxed. "Stiles…"

"Death doesn't happen to you, Olivia," Stiles continued over her, wishing that she would just see how much he loved and cared for her. "It happens to everyone around you, okay? To all the people left standing at your funeral, trying to figure out how they're gonna live the rest of their lives without you in it."

"Stiles."

"And you think you're so invincible but you're not—and I can't just stand back and watch you get hurt—how am I supposed to even—you don't even realize—"

Stiles was abruptly cut off when a warm pair of lips pressed themselves against his. The kiss didn't last long as it was intended to shut him up, but somehow Stiles managed to stare down at Olivia wide-eyed the whole time.

Olivia smiled when she pulled away, amused by the look of amazement on his face. "You know, this relationship isn't gonna work if you're telling me what I can and cannot do."

Stiles blinked rapidly, spluttering. "Relationship?"

He grinned when her winced in embarrassment. He wasn't laughing at her, he wasn't. He was just so damn happy because, holy shit, she had basically admitted her feelings for him. Yeah, she didn't say the words but he knew. He knew from the way she came for him, the way she'd text him a funny meme in the middle of the night, the way she'd seek comfort from him and give it in return. He knew from the way she smiled at him because no one—not even Derek, Lydia, or Sirius—got that smile, the one were her eyes would sparkle and she'd bit her bottom lips just a little without realizing.

Olivia gave him an exasperated look. "We don't have time for this, Stiles."

"Okay, okay," Stiles nodded. "Just tell me you love me and we'll go."

"I love you, Stiles," Olivia deadpanned but he knew she meant every word. "Can we go get Lydia now?"

"Yes," Stiles let her lead the way from his bedroom. "I love you, too."

"I know."

"How do you even know all of this stuff?"

Olivia looked up from the message she got from Peter at Stiles' question. It wasn't for her, it was directed to Lydia, who was sitting in the backseat as they drove to the warehouse district.

"Liv told me," Lydia stated matter-of-factly.

Stiles' head whipped to Olivia. "You told her?"

"She deserved to know," she defended herself. "and is this really the time to talk about this? We're about there."

"Fine."

Lydia leaned forward, giving her cousin a serious look. "What do I have to do?"

"Peter said that because I'm an anchor, I can start the process of getting him back to himself. Once I call Jackson's name, you're the one who's gonna finish it," Olivia told her quietly, knowing how much this was going to mean to both Lydia and Jackson. "Did you bring the key?"

"What? What key? Did I miss something?"

They both ignored Stiles. "Yeah," Lydia confirmed before reaching around her neck to unclasp the silver chain that held the key to Jackson's house. "I got it."

Olivia gave her a sad but comforting smile. "It's gonna be okay, Lyds. You can do it for Jackson."

Lydia nodded, clenching the key tightly. "For Jackson."

"We're coming up to the warehouse," Stiles warned them. "Seatbelts?"

Olivia and Lydia straightened in their seats and held on as Stiles crashed his Jeep through the thin metal sheet surrounding the warehouse and then rapidly turned the wheel so he could run right into the kanima. There was a moment where everyone stopped and stared and then Olivia was opening her door and she and Lydia were getting out of the Jeep.

"Jackson!" Olivia yelled for her friend, getting the kanima's attention.

The kanima turned toward her, cocking its head, and Lydia stepped forward. "Jackson?" she whimpered as the kanima crawled toward her, holding up Jackson's key. "Jackson."

Olivia nervously gripped Stiles' arm as he came up beside her, watching as the kanima froze, its eyes on the shiny key in Lydia's hand. It stopped and stared for a long, nerve-wracking moment.

And then the neon green of its eyes started to fade and Jackson's blue hue started to appear. His scales turned back into bare skin and dirty-blonde hair appeared. As Jackson silently took the key from Lydia, his venomous claws turned into blunt fingernails. His eyes met Lydia's wet ones and Olivia could feel tears in her eyes from the look they shared alone.

Jackson nodded slowly and carefully stepped away from Lydia. He stood still and raised his arms defenselessly, allowing Derek and Peter, both of them in their werewolf forms, to lunge at them. Olivia gasped sadly and squeezed Stiles' hand as they tore their claws into them.

Lydia rushed forward as Jackson fell to the dirty ground, catching him just before his body hit the concrete. Olivia covered her mouth tearfully as Lydia sobbed, cradling a dying Jackson in her lap.

"Do you—" Jackson choked. "Do you still…?"

"I do," Lydia assured him quickly, more tears falling down her face. "I do still love you. I do. I still love you."

Jackson nodded slowly, his eyes falling shut and his body slumping as his heart stopped beating. Stiles wrapped an arm around Olivia's shoulders, offering comfort, and she burrowed her face in his chest, wishing that things had been different. That they had been able to save Jackson.

She allowed herself a few seconds before pulling away from Stiles and going to Lydia. Lydia took her offered embrace without a word, sobbing heavily into Olivia's shoulders. More tears fell down Olivia's cheeks as she hugged her cousin tightly, only to stiffen when she saw movement coming from Jackson's fingers.

"Jackson?"

Jackson's eyes opened, a brilliant bright blue. The same blue that Derek had before he had turned into an alpha. Werewolf blue. Lydia whipped around to face him as Olivia sighed in relief.

Jackson got to his feet, his features turning to what they should have been all along, and tilted his head back, howling loudly. The howl ended and his human features reappeared, allowing him to gaze nervously at Lydia and Olivia.

Olivia laughed lightly because, of course, Jackson just had to have a dramatic transformation to match his dramatic ass. She grinned as Lydia jumped from her arms to his, wrapping him in the tightly hug she had ever seen.

She turned away from Lydia and Jackson to give them their privacy, very relieved that Jackson had survived. The heaviness that had been on her chest since the end of the lacrosse game had lifted because he was safe and healthy.

As she went back to Stiles side, he grinned softly at her. "You've got some mascara," he pointed to the corner of his eye. "rigghhht there."

She glowered at him. "I hate you."

"Sure, you do, ya big fluffball."


	25. Bizarre and Supernatural

**[3x01; Tattoo]**

_**May 4, 2011**_

_Stiles breathed heavily as he squirted some water into his mouth, finding relief from the cool liquid. The heat felt unbearable, but he kept practicing, determined to make first line for the lacrosse season next spring. Sure, it wasn't officially summer yet, but school was out, and they had time. Winning the championship game wasn't all fun and games—now he had a reputation to uphold. _

_Scott was certainly working him for it, too. They had already run one of the shorter cross-country tracks before heading to the practice lacrosse field, where they started doing dribbles. They were taking a quick break for water now, and then they'd start on scoring practice. _

_His phone beeped from his gym bag. A smile bloomed on his face when he saw that it was Olivia. She had sent some Star Wars meme with Anakin holding sand art followed by a bunch of crying emojis. How did anyone think his girl had a heart of stone?_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: LOL we're still on for tonight, right?_

_**Livvy**__: Yup. Dress code?_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Casual. One word—drive-in._

_**Livvy**__: Got it. I'll be ready at 4. _

"_You're texting Liv, aren't you?" Stiles looked away from his phone at Scott's voice; he grinned guiltily. _

"_Sorry," he tossed the phone back into his bag. _

"_It's fine," Scott chuckled. "You're still taking her out for her birthday, right?"_

_Stiles grinned. "Do you know how wonderfully ironic it is that her birthday is on Star Wars day?"_

"_No."_

"_Of course, you wouldn't," Stiles rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm taking her to the drive-in. The original trilogy is starting at five, so we'll have time to pick up some food and head there."_

_Scott hummed and grinned at his best friend. Even though his relationship with Allison hadn't worked out, he was happy that Stiles and Olivia were getting theirs going. He wasn't shocked when he first saw them together the Monday back at school after everything went down, hands gripped together as they walked the hallways, but it was a great surprise. For a while there, he thought that Olivia wasn't going to acknowledge her feelings for Stiles. He was just glad she did. _

"_Why are you looking at me like that?" Stiles eyed him warily. _

"_I'm happy for you, dude," he clapped Stiles' shoulder. "Your girlfriend is Olivia Martin."_

"_Yeah, she is," Stiles smiled goofily and took another sip of water. He set the bottle down and picked up his lacrosse stick, ready to go again. "Come on, I gotta pick Livvy up at four. Why don't you get in the goal and help me make team captain like you promised?"_

_Scott laughed and rolled his eyes, picking up his own stick. "Hey, you know what I just realized?" he paused, looking at Stiles thoughtfully. "I'm right back where I started."_

_Stiles gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"_

"_I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing."_

"_Dude," Stiles pushed his shoulder, causing him to stumble back. "you still got me."_

"_I had you before!" Scott exclaimed, using the momentum of Stiles' push to run over to the goal. _

"_Yeah and you still got me, so your life is fulfilled," Stiles retorted, making his way to an appropriate distance from the goal. He used his net to scoop up a lacrosse ball and got ready to try to get it past Scott. "Now remember, no wolf powers."_

_Scott nodded and grinned mischievously. "Got it."_

"_No, I mean it," Stiles pointed at him. "No super-fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing—none of that shit, okay?"_

"_Okay!" Scott agreed loudly. "Just come on."_

"_You promise?"_

"_Would you just take the shot already?"_

_Stiles bit his lip and steadied his net before winding back at whipping the ball toward the goal. Just as the ball left his net, he saw Scott's eyes flash gold, so he wasn't surprised when Scott easily caught the ball. _

"_I said no wolf powers!"_

"_Allison, do you see what she's wearing?" Lydia complained to a very tired Allison over Facetime, flashing her phone's camera at Olivia's flowy shorts and white camisole. "She's wearing that for her first date."_

_Olivia scowled and grabbed the phone from Lydia so she could talk to Allison herself. "We're going to see a movie at the drive-in."_

_Allison yawned and apologized softly. "It looks fine," she agreed with Olivia. "What movie?"_

_It was late at night in France where Allison was currently living. After everything was said and done and Jackson was okay, she and Mr. Argent only stayed long enough for Allison to take her finals. They took off to France right after she turned her last test in, leaving barely enough time for Olivia and Allison to talk about their friendship. _

_Since Allison still didn't know that Derek bit her mom to protect Scott, the youngest Argent didn't offer an apology for hurting Derek. While it annoyed Olivia a little, she understood that Allison didn't know the whole story and could only base her feelings on what she knew. What she knew was that Derek bit her mom and her mom killed herself soon after. So, Olivia brushed it off and Allison apologized for the way she acted. _

_Their friendship was mended but the two of them and Lydia were disappointed that Allison would be in France the whole summer. They promised to keep in contact and Facetime, so, of course, Lydia thought it was appropriate to call and wake up Allison when she learned that Stiles was taking Olivia out for her birthday. _

"_Star Wars," Olivia informed her. "It's a special viewing."_

"_By special, she means Stiles is gonna get into her panties—"_

"_Lydia Grace Martin!" Olivia grabbed one of the throw pillows off her bed and whipped it at her cousin; Sirius yipped excitedly, thinking they were playing catch. Lydia laughed and Allison joined her. "I am not having sex with Stiles."_

"_Tonight, anyway," Allison commented slyly as Lydia crowed, "Uh-huh, sure!"_

"_It's my birthday and you guys are being so mean to me," Olivia whined dramatically, falling back on her bed. Sirius scrambled over to her, giving her face sweet little kisses. "Thanks, Siri, You're my best bud."_

"_I wanted to have a party for you," Lydia tugged her phone out of her hands. "Did you meet any cute boys yet, Allison?"_

"_I've been here for a week," Allison said flatly. _

"_I'm guessing that's a no."_

"_Leave her alone, Lyds," Olivia nudged the redhead as she sat back up and smushed her head against Lydia's so Allison could see them both. "Take time for yourself, Al. Be an independent woman who doesn't need a man to—"_

"_All right, Susan B. Anthony," Lydia cut her off, earning herself laughter from Olivia and Allison. "I'm not saying you need a man. I'm saying you want a man."_

_Allison laughed awkwardly. "I'm changing the subject now. What time is Stiles picking you up, Liv?"_

_As soon as the question was out of her mouth, they heard Natalie calling up to them. "Olivia, Stiles is here!"_

"_Now, I guess," Olivia told Allison, checking the time on her phone. It was 3:55; he was five minutes early. "I'll talk to you later, Al."_

"_Have fun, Liv! Happy birthday!"_

_Olivia thanked her and Lydia bid her own goodbyes to Allison before ending the call. Olivia dashed into the bathroom she shared with Lydia to check the braid that Lydia put it in while her cousin waited impatiently by her bedroom door. _

"_Come on, Liv."_

"_I'm coming," she huffed, walking out of the bathroom and to her door. When she opened it, Sirius zoomed out of the room, too excited to see Stiles. "Why does he love Stiles more than me?"_

"_Honestly, I have no idea," Lydia shook her head in agreement. She had been so pissed off when she learned that Sirius adored Stiles more than any of his owners. Stiles made it worse when he came over, talking to Sirius in the same voice that Lydia used on him. _

_By the time they made it downstairs, Sirius was on his back in front of Stiles while Stiles happily petted his belly, making cure little cooing noises. Olivia would never admit it to him, but her heart melted every damn time he and Sirius were together. _

"_Hey!" Stiles greeted her enthusiastically when he noticed her in front of him. "Happy birthday!"_

_Olivia smiled at him, her cheeks flushing when he gave her a quick kiss. Usually she wasn't a big fan of showing affection in front of other people, but this was Lydia. Lydia, who would tease the hell out of her later…_

"_Thanks, Stiles. Are you ready to go?"_

"_Wait, wait," Lydia cut in, holding up her phone. "I need pictures."_

_Olivia sighed heavily while Stiles agreed with a smile. "You're worse than your mom, Lyds."_

"_Shush now," Lydia waved her off. She paused, allowing for Stiles and Olivia to arrange themselves into a picture-appropriate pose and then cheered, "Say cheese!"_

"_Cheese!"_

_Olivia's mood brightened as soon as they left her house. They chatted lightly when they went to pick up the pizza they were going to bring to the drive-in and Olivia had told him what she'd had done for her birthday. Derek had taken her and Isaac out for breakfast and then he and Peter took her out to buy her first car and presented her with a new MacBook, while Lydia and Natalie took her shopping when she got home, each of them getting some new clothes. _

"_How was practicing with Scott?" she asked when she was done telling him about her day and they were settled at the drive-in, waiting for the movie to start. _

"_It was okay," Stiles shrugged and bit into his pepperoni pizza. "I got a lot of work to do."_

"_You already did great at the game, so I'm sure Scott will be able to whip you into shape in no time," Olivia assured him. _

"_Hopefully," Stiles allowed a grin to slip onto his lips. "Thanks, babe."_

"_You're welcome, sweetcheeks."_

_They pressed their lips together in a sweet kiss, tasting pizza on each other's lips. Olivia gasped lightly as Stiles swept his tongue along the seam in her lips, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth and caress hers. _

_The loud billowing of the Star Wars theme made them jump away from each other. They turned to the dark screen, the light from the bright yellow scrawl illuminating their flushed faces. Olivia glanced over at Stiles as the opening theme ended, giving way to warships flying through space. She wasn't surprised to see him looking back at her._

"Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture."

The sarcastic tone seeping into Jimmy's statement made Stiles snort quietly and grin to himself. He was glad that his back was turned away from Scott as he looked at the various books full of tattoos that Jimmy had drawn up. Picturing Scott's innocent smile made him snort again as he flipped through pages of plastic sleeves, searching for anything that interested him.

The last night of summer and of course, Scott wanted to get a tattoo. Not just any tattoo, though. Scott wanted two black bands curled around his bicep. To be honest, Stiles didn't like the design but it wasn't his body so he wasn't going to say anything—but if the tattoo was as ugly as he thought it was going to be, he would probably have a hard time holding back.

_Holy shit_, he thought as he turned to another page.

The design took up most of the page but it wasn't the size that was shocking. It was the fact that the drawing looked exactly like the kanima that wreaked havoc around Beacon Hills the previous spring. Jimmy must have seen the kanima because he had all the details down, from the venomous claws to the long tail.

"Hey, Scott," he caught his best friend's attention as he turned to face the chair where he was seated. "you sure you don't want something like this?"

He showed Scott the kanima tattoo with flourish, amusement light his features. Scott wasn't nearly amused as he was; his excited face turned into a frown before he gave Stiles an are-you-serious look.

"Too soon?" Stiles asked needlessly as he closed the tattoo book and placed it back on the shelf it was sitting previously. "I don't know, man, are you sure about this?" he turned back to Scott. "I mean, these things are pretty permanent, you know?"

As Jimmy started getting the ink ready to go, Scott answered, "I'm not changing my mind."

"Okay, but why two bands?"

Scott shrugged. "I just like it."

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"

"Getting a tattoo means something."

Stiles scoffed. "I don't think that's—"

"He's right," Jimmy interrupted him; Stiles crossed his arms over his chest and looked to him curiously. "Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word 'tatua' means 'to leave a mark'. Like a rite of passage."

"Yeah, you see?" Scott grinned smugly at Stiles, making him bristle." He gets it."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "He's covered in tattoos, Scott. _Literally_."

Jimmy gave him a deadpan look before turning to Scott. "Okay, you ready? You ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"

Scott shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Nope."

As the needle in Jimmy's hand started buzzing, Stiles slowly walked over to get a better look of what was going on to Scott's arm. His stomach flipped when the needle quickly entered Scott's skin. "I tend to get a little squeamish, though, so…"

He trailed off as his vision went blurry and his limbs felt like jelly. He was out before he even hit the floor.

When he woke up, Scott's tattoo was done and he was paying Jimmy for the work. Stiles winced as he craned his neck to look around; they left him on the floor but at least they gave him a cold pack to put against his head. He groaned as he sat up, pressing the cold pack firmer against the back of his aching head. Three minutes later, they were getting into his Jeep.

Stiles blinked at his steering wheel, wondering if he should be driving right after hitting his head but was distracted by Scott's quiet groan of pain. He turned to his best friend while throwing the soppy ice pack in the backseat. "You okay?"

Scott squirmed uncomfortably and grimaced at his wrapped arm. "It kinda burns."

"Yes," Stiles couldn't believe that Scott didn't expect some pain. "you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times with a needle."

"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this," Scott looked to Stiles for an answer; Stiles shrugged just as Scott jumped and grunted in pain. 'No, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this."

"Oh, God."

Scott groaned again and reached for the gauze on his arm. "Oh, I gotta take this thing off."

"No, no, no, no, Scott," Stiles immediately protested, his stomach flipping. He gagged a little as Scott started unwrapping his arm. "Scott, please stop! Oh, gross—" he paused when he saw Scott's arm. "Woah."

The solid black bands of ink wrapping themselves around Scott's bicep were fading into angry red skin. Within seconds, Scott's arm was back to normal, like he had never even entered the little tattoo shop.

"What, come on!" Scott gasped before looking at Stiles. "It healed."

Stiles was just glad that nothing gruesome happened—and that Scott wouldn't have that ugly thing on his body for the rest of his life. "Ah, thank God. I hated it," when Scott gave him an affronted look, Stiles winced and gave a flat apology. "Sorry."

"You're sure that Scott won't be at Stiles' house?" Allison looked over at Olivia anxiously.

Olivia flipped on her right blinker and turned onto the highway. "I'm positive," she reassured her friend. "Stiles said that Scott was leaving at five."

"Yeah but it's Stiles and Scott," Lydia piped up from the backseat, leaning forward so she could talk to Olivia and Allison easier. "Since when do they spend a minute apart?"

"When I ask," Olivia smiled playfully, earning laughs from Allison and Lydia. "I'm kidding but I did tell Stiles that we were going out with you guys tonight, so…"

"Stiles has a brain in that big head of his," Lydia said. "I'm sure that he's smart enough not to tell Scott that he's going on a group date with his ex-girlfriend."

_Eh._

"Wait, wait," Allison gave them both an alarmed look. "It's not a date, right? Please tell me it's not a date."

Olivia glared at Lydia through the rearview mirror, wishing that her cousin could have kept her mouth shut because Allison wasn't ready to start dating again. Of course it was a date, though; one of Lydia's summer hook-ups had a cousin who was very hot—according to Lydia—and was interested in getting to know Allison. Olivia and Stiles had gone on double dates with Lydia and whatever guy she was into that day before so it was a natural segway into inviting them, too. Stiles hadn't wanted to go on the group date, explaining that it felt like he was betraying Scott, but Olivia had begged him. She felt bad for Scott about the break-up, but from the conversations she had with Allison over the summer, it didn't seem like Allison was going to be able to reenter a relationship with Scott. It wasn't that she didn't love him—because she really did—but it was hard for her to move on from everything that happened before.

"It's not a group date," Olivia promised Allison. "It's more of a group _thing_."

"Does this guy know it's a group thing?" Allison looked to Lydia for an answer now, considering she was the one who planned the whole night. "I told you guys that I'm not ready to get back out there."

"Ugh," Lydia groaned and Olivia smiled at her dramatics. "I can't believe you were in France for four months and you didn't date a single guy."

Allison shrugged awkwardly and changed the subject. "Just because you were ready after—"

"Don't say his name!" Lydia exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Jackson is a subject that's off limits," Olivia told Allison with a smile that told the taller brunette she knew that Lydia was gonna have a fit.

"You said his name," Lydia reached toward Olivia's ear and flicked it, earning herself a pained squeal.

Jackson Whittemore was a sensitive subject when it came to Lydia Martin. Despite the fact that Lydia saved him and they declared their love for one another, there were no moves on either side to enter a relationship again. After learning control with Derek and Olivia, Jackson and his family moved to England to start over. Olivia missed him but they still exchanged emails once a week—something that she wouldn't mention to Lydia until the time was right.

"Is he okay?" since Lydia and Olivia didn't speak about Jackson in their calls to Allison, she didn't know what was going on with him. "I mean, did everything work out?"

"Well, you saw how it was when it turned up that he was alive," Olivia reminded her. It had been a whole thing with the hospital and the doctors and the research that annoyed and angered Jackson so much that Olivia had to be by his side every hour so he wouldn't lose control. "but eventually, everyone got over it."

"And yes, Derek and Liv taught him the werewolf 101," Lydia reported. "like how not to randomly kill people during a full moon."

Allison grinned at her. "So, then, you've talked to him?"

Lydia shook her head. "Not since he left for London."

"You mean since his dad moved him to London," Olivia objected; Lydia liked to act that Jackson went to England willingly when he was actually really upset that he had to move.

Lydia waved her off. "Whatever, he left," she said sharply. "And seriously, an American werewolf in London? Like that's not gonna be a disaster."

"So, you're totally over him?" Allison challenged the redhead.

"Would I be going on a group date if I wasn't?" Lydia said quickly, once again blurting out the truth. Olivia and Allison laughed and she sighed. "Yes, it's a group date. It's not an orgy so I think you'll live."

Olivia chuckled as she pulled to a stop at a red light. "I vetoed the orgy," she informed Allison jokingly. She was in a happy mood tonight; it was the last night of summer, Allison was back, and she'd get to see Stiles. "and the club."

"She's a buzzkill."

Olivia scoffed and quickly turned back to Lydia for a moment. "I don't want to be hungover on our first day of junior year. Besides," she turned to Allison for back-up. "don't you like pizza and laser tag?"

Allison went to agree but Lydia cut her off. "That's because she'll win!"

"Ha-ha," Allison pushed Lydia back into her seat, all three of them laughing. "I guess you'll have to take some pointers—_oh, my God!"_

At Allison's exclamation, Olivia turned to her left to see what had her freaking out. She hadn't noticed that a vehicle had pulled up next to her at the stoplight—which she cursed herself for because she was usually a great driver—and she also hadn't noticed that it was her boyfriend's vehicle.

"What the hell?" Olivia narrowed her eyes at the Jeep while Allison freaked out in the passenger seat and tried not to look at Scott—who was with Stiles, trying to avoid eye contact with any of them. "He's supposed to be at his house."

Stiles waved at her enthusiastically and her annoyance flooded away. She could never be anything but in love with that boy. He just knew how to relax her and make her happy in ways that no one else could.

"Oh, my God, I can't see him," Allison whimpered. "Not now."

"Liv, go," Lydia urged, slapped the shoulder of Olivia's seat. "Go!"

"But it's a red light," Olivia winced, looking from Allison—who was still freaking out—to the red light, and then to Stiles, who was rolling down Scott's window. "All right."

She pressed on the gas pedal and drove through the intersection, grateful that the road wasn't busy and they were safe to cross. Allison sighed in relief when Stiles stayed back at the light and Olivia put some distance between them.

"Are you all right?" Lydia asked Allison while Olivia gave her a worried look.

"I'm okay," it looked more like Allison was assuring herself of that than Lydia and Olivia. "I'm fine."

Olivia and Lydia didn't argue or try to coax her to open up. They weren't the epitome of sharing feelings either, especially Olivia, so they didn't want to pry. If Allison didn't want to talk about Scott, they wouldn't.

It was only a minute or so after they left the stoplight that Allison spoke up again, her eyes in the rearview mirror. "Liv, stop. We should go back and talk to them."

Olivia switched her foot to the break pedal. "We're almost to Stiles' house…" when they came to a complete stop, she saw that Stiles had stopped too. "Why did they stop?"

Lydia shrugged. "It's Stiles and Scott. Do you really wanna try applying logic to those two?"

Allison said something in return but Olivia didn't hear; she was too busy focusing on the abrupt tingling traveling through her body. The whispering of her name, along with Allison and Lydia's, flittered through her head and then…

_Turn around, Olivia_

Olivia didn't waste time; she whipped around, facing the front of her car. Her eyes widened when she saw a huge deer heading straight toward them. "GET DOWN!"

She barely had time to grab Allison's shoulder, force her down, duck behind the steering wheel, and hope that Lydia was safe before the deer was crashing into the windshield. Lydia and Allison screamed as heavy glass flew around the enclosed space.

Olivia inhaled deeply as the deer's body settled on the dashboard in front of her, eyes glazed over with death. She shakily reached for her door handle with one hand and her seatbelt with the other before pushing herself out of the car. She fell on her ass but she hopped up, still staring at the deer with wide eyes.

"Oh, my God."

"Livvy," Stiles was there, gently taking her arm and leading her away from the car. "Are you okay? Babe?"

Olivia inhaled once again and turned her attention to Stiles, who was rubbing her arms soothingly. "I'm okay," she told him, allowing him to pull her into a warm hug. "I'm fine."

She wasn't lying. She was shocked, yeah, but she was okay. She was glad that her abilities were able to tell her that she, Allison, and Lydia were in danger and that she was able to stop any injuries that may have happened. Mostly, though, she was confused. Why would a deer charge right down the middle of the road and crash into them?

_It was like it was committing suicide. _

As Stiles kissed the top of Olivia's head, Lydia dragged her out of her thoughts when she shrieked, "Well, I am not okay! I am totally freaking out!" Olivia slipped out of Stiles' embrace to grab Lydia's hand. "How the fuck does that thing just run into us?"

"It was weird," Olivia agreed, her eyes following Scott as he moved away from Allison to the deer's body. "and it came down right in the middle of the road. It's like it was crazy."

"It was scared," Scott spoke up; he put his hand on the body and looked back at them, a solemn look on his face. "Actually, it was terrified."

Olivia had woken up with Isaac on her mind. The dream she had of him and the unknown girl trying to outrace that huge alpha werewolf was permanently printed into her memory as she mechanically got ready for school, dressing in a summer dress and sandals.

While she curled her hair with one hand, she dialed Derek's number on her phone with the other. It was Isaac's turn to look for Erica and Boyd the night before and with how she was feeling, the warnings she was getting, and the dream she had, it was obvious that something went wrong.

"_Morning,"_ Derek greeted her groggily. "_Ready for your first day?"_

"I'm worried about Isaac," she told him.

"_What? What do you mean?"_ his voice was alert and strict, the tone of a worried alpha.

"I mean that Isaac is who God knows where and he's in _trouble_," Olivia explained impatiently. Over the summer, she and Isaac's friendship grew stronger since they were the only ones left in the Hale pack, other than Derek. She considered him a brother and she knew he saw her as a sister. "Derek, we need to find him."

"_I'll find him but you need to go to school,"_ Derek told her; there was rustling over the phone and then a metallic clinking which she figured were his keys. "_I'll check out the Iron Works. I'm pretty sure that's where he told me he was going last night."_

"Okay," Olivia sighed. "be careful."

Who knew where the alpha pack was lurking?

"_Have a good day at school."_

Olivia ended the call. _Since when did Derek get so paternal_? She thought to herself. _Right, ever since you were stuck with a psychotic dad and got yourself a boyfriend._

She slipped a headband into her hair and grabbed her purse, heading downstairs. When Sirius yipped in greeting at her as she made it to the kitchen, she crouched down in order to give him a hug and kiss.

"Hi, Siri," she cooed, snuggling her nose into the soft fur of his head. "Did you sleep well? Hmm?"

Sirius nudged her with his paw and when she went to pat him between his ears, he bit her on the wrist. "Ouch!" he struggled out of her grip and ran away. "What'd you do that for?"

Olivia rose to her full height and stared at her dog where he shuffled on his bed, digging into his blanket and stuffed toy. He had never bit her before, not like that. Yeah, he nipped while playing when he was a baby but this was a full-on bite that drew blood.

She heard Lydia's heels against their hardwood floors before she saw her. "What happened to you?"

Olivia frowned at her. "Siri bit me."

Lydia quirked an eyebrow. "Sirius bit _you_."

"Yes."

"He doesn't bite."

"Wow, I had no idea!" Olivia rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen, heading straight to the sink. "Can you get me a bandage?"

Lydia quickly went to their medicine cabinet and pulled out some disinfectant cream and a large bandage to cover up the bite. She helped Olivia with dressing the wound before looking over at Sirius in disbelief.

"Why would he bite you?"

Olivia sighed, watching as Sirius buried his head into his blanket. "I have no idea."

Sheriff Stilinski sighed in relief when he saw her on the other side of his front door. "Olivia, I'm glad you're here," he ushered her into the house. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm good, Sheriff, thank you," Olivia had expected Stiles to be downstairs eating breakfast but the lower level was empty of his presence.

"I thought I told you to call me Noah," she smiled sheepishly when he pointed at her. "Anyway, Stiles is…well, he's been up since four-thirty."

Olivia raised her eyebrows in shock. Stiles loved to sleep in and if he didn't get enough sleep, he was like a freaking toddler who skipped out on their nap. "Four-thirty?"

"Come on," he gestured for her to follow him up the stairs. "He was pretty upset about your accident. I think he's been researching nonstop."

_Oh, God_. Olivia loved Stiles to death but when he was obsessed with something, he was _obsessed_. She didn't know if it was his ADHD or his need to know anything and everything but if he needed to know something, he was going to look until he found it. There had been numerous times over the summer that she had found him in front of his MacBook, a couple of Adderall in his system as he searched through whatever database he had broken into.

Stiles didn't even look away from his laptop as she and Noah entered his bedroom. "You know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer?" he asked, though he knew the answer. "247,000."

"Oh, God, please go to school," Noah groaned.

"But that's crossing the road," Stiles continued on like his father hadn't spoken. "This one last night came right down the middle."

Noah stepped over to Stiles' chair, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm not gonna beg you."

"Good, I'm impervious to your influence anyway," Stiles mumbled, switching to another tab of research.

Olivia rolled her eyes; who the hell used the word _impervious_?

"Would you consider a bribe?"

"You couldn't meet my price."

"Extortion?"

"You got nothing on me."

Olivia crossed her arms in amusement as Noah grabbed the back of Stiles' chair and started pulling him away from his desk.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Stiles reached for his laptop as he fought to stay in control of his chair. "Dad!"

Olivia walked over to the desk and shut the laptop, grinning when Stiles' eyes darted up to her. "Morning."

A happy glint appeared in his eyes as he hopped from his chair and then faltered. "Livvy, what—what are you doing here?" he scratched the back of his neck and then gestured around his semi-messy room. "Uh, yeah, so this is my room."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek in amusement. Watching Stiles act like she hadn't been in his room before was so funny to her. Especially when Noah was behind him, rolling his eyes so forcefully it looked like they'd disappear into his skull.

"Don't be an idiot, Stiles," Noah sighed as he went to leave the room. "Get to school."

Olivia gave Stiles a pointed look. "You do know your dad has let me up here before, right?"

Stiles rolled his eyes and walked over to his door, shutting it firmly. "Well, that was before we did this," he quickly grabbed her, grinning at her excited squeal, and pressed his lips to hers in a sweet peck. "and this," he fell onto his bed with her underneath him, hitching one of her legs up over his hip before returning back to her mouth.

Butterflies attacked Olivia's stomach as she returned his kiss, savoring the soft feel of his lips, the firm lines of his stomach, and the ever-growing hardness between his legs that was pressing against her belly. Her fingers dug themselves into his newly grown hair, moaning softly when his lips drifted from her lips to her jaw.

Contrary to what Lydia believed, Olivia and Stiles hadn't had sex yet. They did almost everything else—there was that time at the drive-in when things got steamy and he ended up fingering her, the night when he slept over and it was the first time she ever gave a guy a hand job, oh, and the time they both went down on each other after their trip to the beach, where a bunch of teasing was involved…But other than that? No penetration—from Stiles' dick, anyway.

Olivia was ready to take that step with Stiles and have sex. She knew that he was, too, because he was a goddamn horndog when they were by themselves and his awkwardness melted away like ice cream on a hot summer day. The spaz was more self-confident at sex than most of the things in his life, which baffled her—and turned her on at the same time—but he was the one pausing things. He insisted that their first time to be special. That was nice and all but Olivia wasn't naïve; she knew that the first time was a disaster and what really made the whole thing special was who you did it with. To her, they could have hurried sex in his Jeep and it would be special to her because it was Stiles.

But Stiles was serious about it so she would wait. It was sweet but oh-so frustrating—for the both of them.

Just as Stiles' finger started to slip their way past the hem of her dress, she pushed him away from her. "We have school," Stiles pouted and rolled off of her, his head bouncing on the mattress. "and I don't want to be late."

"We have an hour."

Olivia hopped off the bed and straightened her sundress, hiding a bemused smile as she turned back to him, hands on her hips. "I thought you said you wanted our first time to be special?"

"Hey?" Stiles sat up and grinned at her. "I didn't say anything about sex. That was all you, baby."

_Baby_, she scoffed mentally; she wasn't a big fan of sappy pet names. _It was worse than Livvy. Only Stiles would be able to get away with calling her anything like that._

"Yeah, that was all me," she agreed sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't control myself."

"It's okay, I understand," Stiles chuckled, getting to his feet and grabbing his backpack from the floor. "Did you eat breakfast?"

"Didn't have the time," she plucked his keys from his desk and tossed them to him. "Allison picked Lydia up pretty early. She's nervous."

"Let's get Dunkin, then," they walked out of the bedroom, Stiles shutting the door behind them. "What's she nervous about?"

"Seeing Scott again, maybe?" Olivia shrugged as they descended the stairs; Noah was already gone for work. "It could be that it's just hard to go back to school without your mom. It was for me."

As they left the house and locked up, Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

When they arrived at the brand-new school—it had been in progress for over two years and this was the first semester it was going to be used—they had already finished their breakfast and were ready for the day. First, before they could leave the jeep, they had to go over some rules.

"Rules?" Stiles groaned, leaning his head back against his seat. "Rules for what?"

"You know what," they'd gone over Olivia's rules for school before. "No kissing, no hugging, no touchy-feely of any kind."

Stiles rolled his eyes, equal parts exasperated and endeared with his girlfriend. "Can I at least hold your hand?"

Olivia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "I guess that's fine."

"What about if I put my arm around you?"

"Let's not push it," Olivia smiled lightly when he made a loud but joking sigh. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles leaned into her, lips pursed as he blinked rapidly at her. "Can I at least have a kiss?"

Olivia didn't hesitate to kiss him. It only lasted for a second and it wouldn't be enough to last the whole day but it was still special and it still made Stiles' lung cease and his heart to race.

The two of them separated to find their lockers and their friends. Stiles watched Olivia go with a smile on his face, unable to believe that he was starting his junior year of high school with her by his side. He loved her so damn much and she actually loved him back.

It turned out that his locker was only down the hallway from Scott's. It was very convenient. Scott had already arrived on his new bike when Stiles got to his locker, which made it easier for them to find each other before the bell rang and they had to get to class.

"You wanna ask Derek for help?" Stiles complained, looking over at Scott to see if he was serious; he was. "Why?"

Sure, Stiles was more comfortable with Derek now that he and Olivia were dating but it also made the alpha scarier. When Derek gave him the be-careful-with-my-cousin talk—the night that he and Olivia went on their first date—Stiles had almost passed out. Honestly, he was just glad that it was Derek and not Peter. In general, Olivia was really the only Hale family member that Stiles liked to spend time with.

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back," Scott reminded him as they walked through the hallways, maps in hand to navigate the new school. "There has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"

Stiles wished that Scott would stop talking about his ugly tattoo. Personally, he thought it was a blessing that it healed.

"Okay, yeah," Stiles conceded but stopped walking as they came across a bulletin board with Boyd and Erica's faces stapled to it; he gestured to them as he continued, "still, doesn't he have his hands a little full?"

Boyd and Erica had been missing since the night that everything went down with Gerard and Jackson. Stiles was worried for them but it mostly stemmed from the fact that Olivia was really upset about their disappearance. She kept having nightmares about her pack members and always had the constant feeling that something was wrong with them.

Scott stared at the missing posters and sighed. He went to say something but both boys were distracted by the familiar British accent of their formal principal—the one that the Argents threatened to kill if he didn't give his job to Gerard.

"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor, I need them sorted," they walked toward the wiry-glass walls that held the main office where the principal was speaking to the secretary. "And what the hell is this?"

Stiles choked on his saliva as the principal held up one of Gerard's broad swords. He pushed Scott's shoulder, ready to get out of there. "Go, go, go!"

Two hallways over, Olivia and Lydia were leaning against the lockers next to Allison's, waiting as the taller brunette organized her newly bough school supplies. Olivia settled on people watching, eyeing the new students and the ones that she recognized from years before. Lydia, on the other hand, was scouting for new hook-ups.

"Freshmen," she sighed wistfully. "Tons and tons of fresh men."

Olivia grimaced while Allison gave her a look of disbelief. "You mean fresh _boys_, right?" she asked. "Lydia, they're fourteen."

"You might as well be dating a middle-schooler," Olivia tagged on, giving her cousin disapproving eyes.

Lydia shrugged. "Eh, some are more mature than others."

Olivia scoffed. "Gross."

"You know it's okay to be single," Allison pointed out to Lydia. "work on becoming a better person."

Olivia and Lydia exchanged a look; it was very obvious to them that Allison was talking about herself and not Lydia.

"Allison, we love you," Lydia took Allison's arms and turned her so that she was facing them; Olivia gave a supportive nod. "so, if you need to do that thing where we talk about one of us and pretend like we're not actually talking about you, that's fine."

"Totally fine," Olivia added.

Lydia pointed at her cousin before leaning back against the lockers, once again, checking out every guy that passed them. "but I don't want a boyfriend," she continued. "I want a distraction."

Olivia shook her head in amusement and turned away from Lydia, pausing when she saw two guys that she hadn't seen before. There was no way they weren't brothers because they looked nearly identical; they had to be twins. Either way, they were handsome and definitely Lydia's type; brooding bad boys.

"Oh, my God," Lydia had spotted the twins, causing Allison to look their way.

"Brothers?"

Olivia raised an eyebrow at Allison. "Are we seeing the same people, Al?" she scoffed. "They have to be twins."

Lydia hummed, green eyes studying the new kids. "_Twins_."

The new kids turned down the hallway that headed to the main office just as the first bell rang. Lydia watched them leave, a mischievous look on her face. Olivia rolled her eyes and nudged her to get her attention so they could get going to class.

Because the three of them all had the same English class, they walked through the hallways side-by-side to the section of the school that housed the English department. Stiles and Scott also had the same class as them, which Olivia considered pretty lucky. Out of the two hundred kids in their grade, the five of them all had the first class of the day together.

The classroom was pretty much full by the time that Olivia, Lydia, and Allison entered. Stiles got her attention right away, waving his hand in the air and then pointing to three empty seats next to him that he saved for them. Olivia cracked a smile at him and wandered over to the row of desks closest to the window, sitting in the seat next to him. Lydia scored the seat in front of Stiles but Allison was the unlucky one; the empty seat in front of Olivia had been filled by one of their other classmates.

Olivia grimaced at Allison, her eyes darting over to Scott, who was sitting on the other side of Stiles. "Sorry."

The last empty seat was in front of Scott, the one specific person she was trying to avoid.

"This ought to be good," Stiles muttered under his breath as he, Olivia, and Lydia watched as Allison approached Scott.

Allison smiled shyly—and awkwardly—at Scott, gesturing to the desk. "Is someone…?"

"No, no, no," Scott was quick to respond. "No, it's all you, all yours…Uh, it's totally vacant."

Olivia snickered as Scott looked at Stiles with a miserable face and her amusement definitely heightened when Stiles sent Scott a sarcastic thumbs-up in response.

As soon as Stiles put his hand down, every phone in the classroom started going off. Olivia furrowed her eyebrows as she quickly looked around the classroom and then focused on her purse, pulling out her phone; it was a text message from an unknown number.

_Everyone in the class got a text message at the same time? How?_

"_The offing was barred by a black blank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth, flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness,"_ a tall brunette who had to be their teacher, Ms. Blake, walked into the classroom, reading off her own cellphone. She leaned against her desk when she finished reading and looked out over her students to address them. "This is the last line to the first book we are going to read…It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

Olivia pressed her lips together, impressed by Ms. Blake's entrance. It wasn't bad for a new teacher. She put her phone on silent but she didn't turn it off; if she needed to reach Derek, just in case something happened, she'd have to keep it on.

"All right, everyone," Ms. Blake crossed to the back of her desk. "If you didn't already know from your schedule, I'm Ms. Blake. Right now, while I pass out your syllabi, I want you to get into your textbooks and start reading _Heart of Darkness_. Make sure you're annotating as you read; write down any thought that you have. I want to know them all."

Like the rest of her classmates, Olivia opened her textbook to start reading _Heart of Darkness_. Her brand-new notebook was opened to its first page, carefully labeled with the date and what they were doing. Now, Olivia had always received great grades in her English classes but that didn't mean she enjoyed them. English was actually her least favorite class and it bored her to death; there was nothing she hated more than reading old literature and taking notes about what she thought. She thought that it was boring and outdated and she didn't like it—somehow, she didn't think that Ms. Blake would appreciate those annotations.

She was only through half of the first chapter when the classroom door opened and their new principal—well, he was actually the one they had before Gerard Argent—walked into the room. All eyes were on him as he whispered into Ms. Blake's ear before leaving. Ms. Blake's gaze wandered the room before settling on Scott.

"Mr. McCall?" she gestured to the door.

Olivia took the opportunity of Ms. Blake talking to Scott in the hallway to message Derek about Isaac. She was still getting those warning signals in her head and if Scott was being pulled out of class—she wasn't stupid, she knew what was happening—then something worse was going on than they thought.

_**Ollie**__: Scott got pulled out of class, I'm guessing it's his mom_

_**Ollie**__: I think it's because of Isaac_

_**Derek**__: I'll check it out_

Satisfied with her cousin's promise, Olivia slipped her phone back into her purse. She was back to writing notes when Ms. Blake walked into the classroom and continued to write their assignment on the board. They had to read four chapters by Friday—_yay_.

"_Livvy_."

Olivia heard the whisper that came from Stiles but ignored it; it was dead silent in the classroom and she was not about to get into trouble for talking when they weren't supposed to.

"Psst," she heard him hiss at her. "Livvy."

Olivia finally turned to him, an annoyed look on her face. "What?"

"What is that?" Stiles used his pencil to poke at her wrist where a flesh-colored bandage was covering Sirius' bite from that morning. "Is that from the accident?"

"No," Olivia pushed his pencil away from her. "Sirius bit me."

"Siri bit you," Stiles immediately furrowed his eyebrows. "No way."

"Well, I didn't bite myself, Stiles."

Stiles huffed and gave her an annoyed look. "Sirius hasn't bitten anyone before."

"Yeah, we had no idea," Lydia, having heard their conversation, bit in. "It isn't like he's our dog or anything."

Stiles' mind raced as he eyed the bandage on Olivia's arm. Sirius didn't bite people; he was one of the most playful and sweetest dogs in the world—and Stiles would die for him but that was beside the point—but he still bit Olivia. And the deer, there had never been any accidents reported where it came straight down the road like that. It's like the animals were going crazy or something.

"Hey," he whispered, hoping to get Olivia's and Lydia's attention again; it worked. "What if it's, like, the same thing as the deer? You know, like how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake or something?"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully as Lydia quirked an eyebrow at him. "Meaning what?" she asked. "There's gonna be an earthquake?"

"Or something," Stiles insisted. "I just…maybe it means something's coming something bad."

While Stiles and Lydia conferred, Olivia was deep in her head, overwhelmed by her abilities. Her whole body was vibrating and she was rapidly hearing names—_Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison_—from the classroom but it wasn't just that, either. There was something pulling her consciousness away from her, like she was needed elsewhere.

_Scott. Isaac. Derek. _

_Olivia, they're coming_, something whispered to her. _They're coming. Olivia, look out the window. LOOK OUT THE WINDOW!_

"Olivia!" she startled when someone grabbed her wrist, breathing in quickly. Her eyes locked with Lydia's, who was worried. "Your eyes are purple."

Olivia couldn't respond, she needed to look out the window. When she did, she inhaled deeply; a black bird was flying right toward her and then it was there, slamming into the glass and leaving a gross smudge of blood behind.

More birds were coming; maybe a hundred black birds were flying in the direction of the classroom and it didn't look like they were going to stop. They didn't; the first few birds hit the window as Ms. Blake walked over to see what was going on. And then the fourth bird hit the window, breaking through, and everything was chaos.

_Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Allison. _

Over and over Olivia heard her and her friends' names, paralyzing her to her seat. She hardly noticed the numerous birds flying around the classroom, terrorizing her classmates. She didn't even notice when a bird started attacking her, too busy caught up in the fact that something was going on with Isaac, Scott, and Derek, too.

It was too much for her at once.

The birds were making Stiles nervous but the fact that Olivia was just sitting there was panic inducing. He cursed himself as he tore out from under his desk, wishing that he had seen her struggling before, and lunged toward her. He wasn't very careful as he pulled her from her seat and covered her with his own body, inching back toward to where Lydia and Allison were huddled together, but he could apologize later. Her eyes were wide and purple and he figured she wouldn't remember much of what was going on, anyway.

The attack of the birds only lasted around ten minutes but a lot of damage was done. Torn textbooks and notebook paper were all over the room, along with pieces of clothing and dead birds. There were a lot of injured people—there was nothing serious but it _was_ birds that attacked them so antibiotics were probably needed—so paramedics and the police were called.

Olivia's eyes were still purple and that could have been the most worrying thing about it all if it wasn't for the fact that she was currently trying to get out of his grasp and head toward the classroom door like her life depended on it.

"Hey, Livvy, what are you doing?" Stiles grabbed her uninjured wrist to stop her from leaving. "You have to wait for the paramedics."

"Scott, Isaac, and Derek…they're in trouble," her voice was hers but it wasn't. It was dazed and almost robotic.

He furrowed his eyebrows worriedly but focused on Olivia; he could help her at the moment, not Scott or Derek. "I'm sure they have it handled. Are you okay," he cupped her face; her purple eyes were blank. "Olivia, come on. Come back to me."

"We're gonna have to get her out of here," Allison stated as she and Lydia walked over to them. Her eyes searched the room; their classmates were still pulling themselves together but soon it would be obvious that something was wrong with Olivia. "Someone's gonna notice."

"_Scott."_

Lydia bit her lip as her cousin whispered their friend's name. "I'll take her to the bathroom," she volunteered, eyeing Stiles before he could protest. "You need to tell your dad what happened."

"Fine," Stiles agreed with a mumble.

Allison helped Lydia sneak Olivia out of the classroom while Ms. Blake was occupied, trying to round up her injured students. By the time she got back, Noah and some of his deputies had rolled up, as well as a couple of paramedics. Even Mr. Argent had come to the school to see his daughter, worried about how her first day had completely flopped within the first class period.

Stiles quickly explained to his dad what had went on and then looked for his and Olivia's things. Once their school supplies and bags were gathered on his desk, he took his phone from his pants and messaged Derek.

_**Stilinski**__: Olivia's freaking out about you guys. What's going on?_

_**Sourwolf**__: I have Isaac and Scott. We're fine. _

If Scott, Isaac, and Derek were out of danger, that probably meant that Olivia was okay. Hopefully she and Lydia were being attended to for their injuries, which were just a few scratches.

Stiles' gaze found Ms. Blake; she was sitting on her desk with bird feathers in her hair, her eyes blank as he started ahead. He felt sorry for the woman. It was her first day of teaching at Beacon High and this was what she got. Why on earth did people even want to work in Beacon Hills? There were disasters all the fucking time.

"Ms. Blake, are you okay?" Stiles reached for one of the feathers in her hair, pulling it out as she flinched away. "Sorry, just…that," he showed her the feather and hastily dropped it to the floor.

He needed hand sanitizer.

"Mr. Argent," his dad's voice caught his attention; he looked to see that Noah was now talking to Mr. Argent, his arms crossed over his chest. "you wouldn't have any insight into this would you?"

Stiles sat on the desk next to his, watching the exchange curiously.

"Me?" Mr. Argent was taken aback.

"Yeah," Noah nodded. "all this bizarre animal behavior, it's...You must have seen something like this before, right?"

"I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would," Mr. Argent was uncharacteristically flustered as he spoke to Noah.

Noah paused for a second. "I'm sorry, I could have sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter."

_Shit, shit, shit_. Stiles quickly ducked his head, burying his face into his phone so he looked busy.

"Ah, right," Mr. Argent replied. "Well, not anymore."

Stiles only looked away from his phone when Noah left the Argents, throwing his dad an accusing look. "You listen to my phone calls now?"

"No, you just happen to be loud," Noah retorted, passing his son to speak to the deputies he brought onto the scene.

Stiles was pretty sure he was dismissed, so he took his and Olivia's things and left the classroom. He and his classmates had been excused for the rest of the day, so he'd be able to find Olivia and Lydia without a problem before they left school.

As he walked through the hallway, making his way to the girl's bathroom, he called Scott. "We got a serious problem at school," he reported when Scott answered, not taking the time to greet his best friend. "Ms. Blake's class—"

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott interrupted him.

Stiles frowned. "Well, no, I'm pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion."

Scott sighed. "Okay, then meet me at Derek's."

"His loft?"

"No, his old house."

"What the fuck are you doing at his old house?" last Stiles knew, the old Hale house had been taken over by the county. Olivia had been really upset about it but relieved at the same time.

"Just meet us here, okay," Scott said hurriedly. "Bye."

Stiles groaned; he seriously hoped he wasn't going to that house for no reason. Derek had said that he, Scott, and Isaac were fine, so why did they need to wait around in the rundown mansion? What was so important that he had to meet them there?

He put his phone back in his pants just as Olivia and Lydia left the bathroom. He was very much relieved to see that Olivia looked like herself again, fully aware and in charge of her body. She was a little ruffled but so were he and Lydia and the rest of their classmates.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, ignoring her PDA rules to pull her into a tight hug. He was relieved to feel her return his affection. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Olivia assured him as she pulled away. "Sorry about that. I don't know what happened."

"We need to figure out what it was," Lydia spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. "If that happens again…"

"Someone might notice, yeah," Olivia nodded and then focused back on Stiles, reaching up to carefully prod at the scratch near his temple. "Did you get that cleaned?"

"Yes, ma'am," Stiles confirmed with a grin. "Oh, I talked to Derek and he, Scott, and Isaac are fine."

Olivia sighed in relief. "Good."

"And Scott wants us to meet them at the old Hale house."

Immediately, Olivia clammed up, giving him a tight smile. "You go ahead," she told him, not wanting to go back to the place where her mother had died. "I'll stay with Lydia and get a ride home from Allison."

Stiles frowned. "Are you sure?"

He knew that she hated to be around the old Hale house but he was worried about her being in a small space with Mr. Argent. They weren't the ones that fought and Argent had actually helped her get Stiles out of his house that spring but Stiles was still cautious. Despite her last name being something different, Olivia was still a Hale and Argent was still an Argent.

"Yeah," surprisingly, Olivia stood on her tiptoes to give Stiles a light peck on the lips. "Lyds and I have that party to go to anyway. It's gonna be _fun_."

Lydia rolled her eyes at her cousin's sarcasm. "Would you stop being a party pooper?"

"No," Olivia turned her gaze back to Stiles once again. "I love you."

Stiles beamed at her. "Love you, too. Be careful."

After getting her things from Stiles, it was just Olivia who went with Lydia to her locker. Allison joined them as Lydia started touching up her lipstick but they stayed silent. All three of them were still bewildered with what had happened in their english class.

Finally, Lydia spoke up, "Is it me or is Beacon Hills turning into more like a beacon for the totally bizarre and supernatural?"

Allison laughed and Olivia rolled her eyes as Lydia shut her locker. They were just about to walk away to head to Allison's car when they came across an older woman. She couldn't have been more than five or six years older than them but she looked a little haggard.

"Where's Scott McCall?" the woman asked them.

Olivia, Lydia, and Allison exchanged looks but it was Olivia who spoke up. "How you do—"

"You're the Anchor," the woman breathed and grabbed Olivia's arm; Olivia's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Hey, how do you know…" Allison spoke up angrily, only for her arm to be grabbed by the woman, too.

Both Olivia and Allison winced in pain as the woman squeezed their arms carefully, her eyes looking at something past them.

"Easy on the physicality, sweetheart," Lydia sneered, forcefully pulling the woman's grip away from Olivia and Allison.

The woman let go and started to run away; Olivia looked back at where the woman had been staring at and saw that the twins that Lydia was lusting after were fleeing the hallway, too. "What the hell?" she muttered and looked down at her arm, which was still aching. "She bruised me."

Allison looked at her arm. "Huh, me too."

"What a psycho," Lydia glowered at the end of the hallway where the woman disappeared to.

"Come on," all three of them turned to Mr. Argent, who had walked up to them. "Let's get you girls out of here."

Olivia exchanged a nod with Lydia. After the strange day she had—which only lasted one class period, by the way—she was more than ready to get out of that school. She and Lydia ducked away from the Argents and walked down the hallway side-by-side.


	26. More Important Things

**[3x02; Chaos Rising]**

_**May 16, 2011**_

_Olivia folded her arms over her chest as she stood next to Derek, glaring at the old, beaten down and fire-warped house in front of her. Hopefully it would be the last time she would ever have to see it; any day now she and Derek would sign it over to the county so they could start to demolish it and reclaim the land back for the reserve._

_However, before then there was some work they had to do._

_The symbol painted on the rackety front door was still there, looking the same as when Derek showed her a picture of it the day before. It was some sort of triskele but the arms were straight and angled. Personally, Olivia thought that it was ugly and way too close to a swastika to mean anything good. The fact that Derek called a pack meeting, which included Peter now, didn't bode well either._

_"You haven't told them everything yet, have you?" Peter asked Derek from behind her._

_Both Olivia and Isaac turned to their alpha expectantly._

_"What do you mean?" Isaac was the one to speak._

_Peter smirked and leaned against the tree he had stopped next to. "Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack? So eager to strengthen his power and his number?" he nodded at the door. "When there's a new alpha people take notice."_

_"People like who?" Olivia's gaze switched from Derek to the symbol on the door. "That has something to do with this, doesn't it?"_

_Isaac glanced at the symbol, his eyebrows furrowing. "What does that mean?"_

_"It's their symbol," Derek told him. "It means that they're coming."_

_"Who?"_

_"Alphas."_

_Olivia reared back, giving her cousin an incredulous look. "More than one?"_

_Derek inhaled deeply. "A pack of them."_

_"An alpha pack," Peter said dramatically. "and they're not coming. They're already here."_

"I'm telling you, Al, I don't see it," Olivia sighed as she and Allison followed Lydia down the sidewalk to head Heath's house down the street.

She raised her bruised arm and squinted at it in the dark, trying to see the pattern that Allison was talking about. The taller brunette was adamant that the bruises that the random woman gave them were identical and completed some kind of mark when they put their arms together but Olivia thought that she was going crazy. How would anyone be able to control what a bruise looks like?

"It's a pattern," Allison insisted, pulling her phone out of her purse to call Scott yet again. "It means something."

Olivia eyed the phone, watching as it went straight to voicemail. "And you think Scott's gonna know what it is?"

"No but he might know someone who does."

Lydia sighed heavily from in front of them and turned around to face them, walking backward. "How are you so sure this so-called pattern means anything at all?"

Allison's face screwed into a frustrated expression. "Because that girl wasn't just looking for Scott, it was like she needed to find him. And she knew you, too, Liv," she pointed out; Olivia pursed her lips. "That means something."

Olivia wasn't convinced but she wasn't going to disagree with Allison about something so minor. She would rather that Scott answer his phone so that they could go talk to him than continue on to Heath's house so they could celebrate his seventeenth birthday. It wasn't her idea of a fun night, especially when she and Lydia hadn't seen Heath in such a long time.

"Okay, so the bruise means something," Lydia conceded for now. "but can we focus, please? Tonight's supposed to be fun."

Olivia and Allison exchanged frowns; neither of them wanted to be there.

"Ugh," the redhead groaned and pointed at Olivia. "don't give me that look."

"What look?"

"The look you always give me when you don't want to socialize," Lydia stated. Somehow, she was still walking backward in her heels and she hadn't even stumbled. Even though she wasn't clumsy, Olivia really envied her cousin's balance sometimes.

"I don't want to socialize," Olivia shrugged.

"Why are we even going to this party?" Allison spoke up in her defense. "We don't even go to school with these people."

"My dad and Liv's mom were best friends with Heath's parents so we were all passed around for babysitting when we were kids," Lydia informed her.

"We haven't seen him in years," Olivia added with a roll of her eyes.

"So? Heath promised that he'd introduce us to his hot friends," Lydia grinned. "They're on the soccer team."

"I told you—"

"I have a—"

"Yeah, yeah," Lydia cut off Olivia and Allison as they spouted off their excuses. "but I don't have a boyfriend and I'm looking for a distraction, remember?"

Olivia sighed as they came upon Heath's house. It looked the same as it did when she and Lydia were kids except it was a light blue now and there were a bunch of cars parked in the driveway. She could already hear the music blasting from inside and she could tell she wasn't a fan of it.

Now that they were here, they couldn't exactly leave. Well, they could but she doubted that Lydia would let them. She turned to Lydia with a sigh. "One drink?"

Lydia beamed at her. "One drink," she confirmed, grabbing Olivia's hand to drag her up the pathway that led to the front door. Olivia took Allison's hand and took her along too. If she was going down, Allison had to go with her. "Here we go."

They entered the house and surprisingly, there weren't a lot of people hanging around. There were twenty or thirty of Heath's classmates, both boys and girls, but the house wasn't as full as one would expect when you're used to Lydia Martin's parties. There wasn't anything interesting about it, either, except the huge cake that sat on one of the food tables. Now that caught Olivia's eye.

"Lydia, Liv!" Heath, a tall blonde with warm brown eyes, bounded up to them with a happy grin on his face. "You made it."

Lydia excepted the hug that Heath offered. "Thanks for inviting us."

"Happy birth—" Olivia forced herself to say as Heath moved onto her, only to be cut off when he smashed his lips against her. She quickly pushed him off of her, jostling his drink onto her shirt in the process, and glared up at him with shocked and angry eyes. "What the hell?"

"Liv," Allison touched her shoulder to steady her, her own eyes wide. Lydia looked just as shocked with the turn of events. "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Olivia assured her before turning back to Heath for an explanation.

"Sorry, sorry, I can explain," Heath said hurriedly, awkwardly holding his hands away from her. "Uh, here...let me—let me help you dry off."

Olivia gaped at him and he frantically corrected himself. "No, I meant that there's towels in the kitchen. And you—you can dry yourself off and I'll get y-you a shirt."

The last thing Olivia wanted was to go anywhere with Heath but her blouse was sticking to her torso and it was white, which was not a good combination. Plus, she could smell the alcohol on Heath's breath. It was clear he needed some water and she wasn't a complete monster.

"Fine," she huffed and walked off, already heading to where she remembered the kitchen was located.

Heath ducked into the laundry room to grab a shirt from her and entered the kitchen when he was done. "Here," he handed her a neon pink t-shirt with the name of his school on the front. "It's my mom's."

"Thanks," her voice was the flattest it had ever been. "You should probably drink some water."

"Yeah, I had some beer," Heath went to the fridge and pulled out two water bottles, handing one to her. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier."

Olivia untwisted the cap from bottle and quirked an eyebrow at him. "You mean when you kissed me?"

"Yeah," Heath blushed in embarrassment. "My friends found out that I used to have a crush on you so they dared me to, you know, kiss you when you got here."

"I have a boyfriend."

Stiles was in the front of her mind and it made her stomach churn with guilt. Yeah, Heath kissed her but she didn't want him to and she certainly didn't kiss him back. She would never in a million years cheat on Stiles and just the thought of her lips pressed against someone else's while she was with Stiles freaked her the fuck out.

"I'm really sorry," Heath looked like he was about to burst into tears, he was so regretful. "They've just been teasing me because I don't have a girlfriend yet and I'm not interested in girls right now so they all think I'm gay—which isn't a bad thing but I have no idea what I may or may not be into! And when Ritchie found out I'm a virgin everything just got so much worse—"

"Heath, it's okay," Olivia felt bad for the guy now. It sounded like he was being bullied because he was still exploring his sexuality. She really wished he wouldn't have kissed her, especially while she was dating Stiles and without her permission, but it wasn't big of a deal. She would explain to Stiles and he would be fine.

Who was she kidding, Stiles would freak. He was jealous of Isaac when he joined Derek's pack just because they were walking and talking together.

"You should really get new friends," she continued, taking a sip of her water.

Heath laughed bitterly. "Yeah, probably. Anyway, I'm really sorry, Liv. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, you shouldn't have," Olivia agreed. "but it's fine. I forgive you, so..."

"Well, thank you."

An awkward silence started up and it made Olivia's twitch, like she wanted to run far, far away. And she did want to, to be fair. She also really needed to change her shirt.

"I'm gonna go change," she held up the t-shirt he had given her.

"Yeah," Heath nodded. "Um, I'm gonna get some more beer from the garage, so...um, have some cake before you leave."

"I will," Olivia said as she left the kitchen and hurried to the downstairs bathroom.

Once her beer-stained blouse was traded out for the t-shirt, she left the house to meet up with Lydia and Allison, who told her that they were out in the front waiting for her. To her surprise, they weren't the only ones; Stiles and Scott were there, too.

"Hey!" Stiles' eyes lit up when he saw her, making her stomach clench guiltily. "Lydia said you had a little accident. Nice shirt."

Olivia smiled weakly. "Thanks," she needed to tell him now before she lost her nerve. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course."

Their talk lasted more than a minute. In fact, it lasted the whole ride back to Olivia's house. Just like Olivia predicted, Stiles did freak out about Heath and what had happened. In the four months that they had been a couple, they had two previous fights and neither of them were as bad as the one they were currently in.

It wasn't even that they were mad at each other, really. Stiles was angry and when he was angry, he was a sarcastic little shit and Olivia couldn't hold back her own comments, which set them off in an endless cycle.

"The fact is that you were lying," Stiles told her angrily.

"Lying about what?" Olivia scoffed. "Heath kissed me literally two minutes before you came, Stiles. How the hell was I lying to you?"

"I'm not even talking about that fucker now, God."

"Well, how was I supposed to know? God, you're so infuriating," Olivia gritted her teeth.

"I was talking about the alpha pack," Stiles continued like she hadn't said anything. "You knew about this for what, four months?"

"It's more like three, really..."

"And you didn't even tell me," Stiles waved his hand in frustration, his eyes narrowed as he turned onto her street. "You didn't tell me that some weird pack of alphas—what the fuck is up with that, anyway—is in Beacon Hills and they're doing god-knows-what!"

Okay, he had a point there. Olivia didn't tell him about the alpha pack but she didn't want to bother him with it. He and Scott had made it clear that they weren't part of the Hale pack and she _was_, so didn't tell him.

"You're not supposed to lie to the people you're in a relationship with!" Stiles exclaimed, slamming his hand against the steering wheel. "I mean, I know you have a heart of stone and everything, but—"

Olivia winced at his words, the corner of her eyes starting to sting. "Wow."

Stiles, out of anyone, knew that she didn't have a heart of stone. She had as much feelings as everyone else. Just because she could hide them well didn't mean anything. He _knew_ that. Hell, he had told her that himself many times before—he always sounded so proud when he talked about the fact that he could read her even though other people couldn't. And he knew how much she loved him. So, the fact that he was throwing that in her face hurt her.

"What?" Stiles looked over at her, like he hadn't realized what he had said. Apparently, he hadn't because he looked like he had slapped _himself_ when he remembered his words. "No, I didn't mean that, Olivia."

Olivia pressed her lips together and looked out her window, grateful that he was pulling up to her house. "Sure Stiles," she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. "Night."

"Wait, no, Livvy," Stiles reached for her hand, grabbing it just before she jumped out of his jeep. "I really didn't mean that. You know that—"

"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it," she snapped at him, ripping her hand away from him.

"Come on," Stiles groaned, growing irritated again; she slid out of the passenger seat and slammed the door behind her. "Olivia!"

Olivia kept walking toward her house, not allowing her tears to fall until Stiles drove off.

"You know, I'm starting not to like this idea. It sounds kinda dangerous," Isaac admitted as he paced in front of the huge window in Derek's loft, his hands clenched into fists. "You know what? I definitely don't like this idea and I definitely don't like him."

"You should be fine," Olivia tried to reassure him before pausing, twisting her lips. "Well, I think you will."

"You'll be fine," Derek told Isaac while sending Olivia a shut-up-you're-scaring-him look.

Isaac turned to Derek just as the alpha went back to reading his book. "Does it have to be him?"

"He knows how to do it. I don't," Derek didn't even bother looking up from his reading. "It'd be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself."

Isaac exhaled out of his nose and walked over to the table where Olivia and Derek were sitting. "You know Scott doesn't trust him, right? You know, personally, I...well, I trust Scott."

It was hard not to trust Scott but that didn't mean Isaac couldn't trust Derek, too. Derek was trustworthy, even if Peter wasn't. And Derek—nor Olivia—would let Peter do anything to Isaac.

Derek looked over at him. "Do you trust me?"

It took longer than Olivia expected for Isaac to answer. "Yeah," he confirmed lightly. "I still don't like him."

"Isaac, he's my father and I don't like him," Olivia sighed. "I don't know anybody who does."

The large metal door to Derek's loft slid open, revealing Peter. He looked better now that he had cut his hair into an acceptable length and gained some color after his two-month stint with death. "Boys, cupcake," he greeted Olivia, Isaac, and Derek. "FYI, yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired but the hearing still works. So, I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face."

Derek gave him a flat look and slammed his book shut. "We don't like you," he stood from his chair. "Now shut up and help us."

Peter shrugged. "Fair enough," he dramatically finished his statement by growing his claws. "Let's do this."

Soon enough, Isaac was situated in Derek's previous seat, almost curled in on himself from his nerves. Peter had an unimpressed look on his face as he watched the younger beta, slowly walking around him.

"Relax," he advised Isaac. "I'll get more out of you if you're calm."

Isaac glanced back at Peter as he stopped behind him. "How do you know how to do this again?"

It was a good question because Olivia didn't know the answer, either. All she knew was that Peter knew how to do it. He had used this method to give some of his memories of his comatose years to Scott when he was terrorizing Beacon Hills and Olivia had thought it was interesting since.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice," Peter said as he studied the back of Isaac's neck, lining up his claws at the appropriate spot for penetration. "One slip and you could paralyze someone...or kill them?"

"You've..." Isaac swallowed nervously. "You've had a lot of practice, though, right?"

Peter smiled creepily at him. "Well, I've never paralyzed anyone."

Olivia cocked her head. "Uh..."

"Wait, does that mean that you—"

Isaac wasn't able to finish his question as Peter forced his claws into the back of his neck; he flinched violently and Peter wrapped his arm around his throat to hold him still. Jumping to her feet, Olivia winced at the frantic whispers flying through her head.

Derek stood up in alarm, worried for his beta's safety but it seemed that even Peter was having trouble with the ritual. His eyes glowed an icy-blue as he grunted, his head jerking back from whatever he was seeing in Isaac's memories.

"Derek..." Olivia looked at her cousin nervously, standing from her chair.

Derek went to stop Peter from continuing the ritual but Peter finally spoke up.

"Wait, I see them," he said urgently.

He went silent again, struggling with everything he was seeing. After another moment, Peter ripped his claws from Isaac's neck and threw himself away from him, shoving himself into the table.

Olivia steadied him while Derek asked, "What did you see?"

"Uh, it was confusing," Peter panted, shaking his head. "Um, images...vague shapes."

"So you saw something," Olivia stated, glad that the ritual worked and that he hadn't done it for nothing.

"Isaac found them."

Olivia perked up at Peter's statement; if Isaac found Erica and Boyd that meant that they were one step closer to getting them home safe and sound.

"Erica and Boyd?" Derek checked.

"I-I barely saw them. I mean—g-glimpses."

"But you did see them?" Derek asked firmly.

Peter glanced down at his hands, tightly holding them together. "Worse."

Derek's face fell in realization. "Deucalion."

Olivia's shoulders slumped as she walked toward Isaac, settling her hands on his shoulders to try to give him some calming vibes, though she needed some herself. Deucalion was the leader of the alpha pack and even though he was blind, he was the most vicious out of all of them, according to Derek and Peter. Even thought they already knew that Erica and Boyd were with the alpha pack, it was hard to hear it confirmed.

"He was talking to them," Peter reported. "Something about time running out."

"What does it mean?" Isaac looked to Derek for answers.

Derek sat down on his couch, his face grim. "He's gonna kill them."

"No, no, no, he didn't say that," Peter disagreed. "He did make them a promise that by the full moon that they'd both be dead."

_Shit_, Olivia thought as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"The next full moon?"

Peter nodded at Derek. "Tomorrow night."

"You guys are late," Stiles' voice was dry and disapproving as Olivia and Derek made their way into the empty classroom that they were supposed to meet Stiles, Scott, Lydia, and Allison in before school started.

Olivia gave him a blank stare; she wasn't mad at him anymore but she was still a little irritated with how they both handled the night before. She also didn't like the way he was speaking to her now, as if it was such a big deal that they were three minutes late. "Do you know how hard it is to sneak a grown man into a school without being suspicious?" she narrowed her eyes at him while making her way to Allison and Lydia. She didn't give him time to answer, "I didn't think so."

Stiles rolled his eyes at her while Scott sighed and addressed Derek, "Yesterday someone was at the school looking for me. She spoke to Allison and Olivia—we think it was the girl who saved Isaac."

"The one he was looking for?"

"I described her to Isaac and he said that the description matched the girl," Olivia told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, she bruised me and Allison and now we have matching bruises."

"We think it's a hint to where Erica and Boyd are being kept," Allison's gaze was cool as she spoke to Derek.

It was the first time they were in the same room after everything went down with Jackson and Gerard. The tension was very obvious; they could all feel it in the air.

Allison held out her bruised arm and so did Olivia, placing hers right next to Allison's to complete the pattern. Olivia was still having a hard time seeing it, but she did know it was there after Allison drew out the pattern she saw on a piece of pattern.

Derek studied it for a moment. "I don't see anything."

"Look again," Scott urged.

"How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?"

"It's the same on both sides," Scott sighed in exasperation. "Exactly the same."

"It's nothing," Derek glared at Allison; she readily returned the vicious stare.

"Pareidolia," Lydia spoke up from the other side of Allison; Olivia cocked her head in acknowledgement as everyone else looked at her in confusion. "Seeing patterns that aren't there. It's a subset of apophenia."

Derek raised his eyebrows at her and then turned to Olivia expectantly.

Olivia pressed her lips together. "We're trying to help, Derek."

Derek scoffed and nodded his head at Allison. "She wants to help?" he scoffed. "She shot about thirty arrows into our pack, Olivia."

Allison raised an eyebrow but didn't argue with his point; she knew what she did but she wasn't going to apologize for it.

"Okay, all right, now, come on," Stiles tried to mediate. "No one died, all right? Look, there may have been a little maiming, okay, a little mangling but no death. That's what I call an important decision."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him while Allison glared at Derek. "My mother died."

"Your family's little honor code killed your mother, not me," Derek said tensely.

"That girl knew Olivia and was looking for Scott," Allison didn't back down. "I'm here to help them, not you."

"You wanna help? Find something real," Derek turned away from Allison and headed for the door.

Scott quickly stopped him. "Derek, give her a chance," he said quietly. "They're on our side now."

"Well then maybe you should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night," Derek retorted.

Olivia glanced at Allison and was relieved that she had turned away to talk to Lydia and wasn't listening to their conversation. She didn't need to learn that her mother was actually trying to kill Scott the night that she was bit in the middle of an argument—or at school, for that matter. Preferably, Scott would tell her in private where she could react however she wanted to.

Olivia only jumped a little bit when Coach slammed his teacher copy of their textbook unto his desk. She turned away from her conversation with Lydia, who was sitting beside her and behind Stiles, to get her notebook ready and pay attention to Coach's lecture. Her need to take precise notes extended even into the easy classes.

"The stock market is based on two principles," Coach spoke as he went to his spot in front of his students' desks. "What are they?"

Olivia knew the answer but she didn't bother to raise her hand to answer him; she was more interested in the fact that Scott had raised his hand in front of her and he was very confident about it.

_Does Scott know the answer? Stiles did say that he had buckled down this summer when it came to school._

"Yes, McCall, you can go to the bathroom," Coach said casually as he looked for another hand. "Anybody else?"

Scott lowered his hand. "Uh, no, Coach, I know the answer."

Coach looked at him for only a second before bursting into laughter. When Scott didn't react in anyway, he sobered up. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yeah," Scott confirmed. "It's risk and reward."

Olivia raised her eyebrows and shared an impressed look with Lydia. Scott really was taking his studies seriously now.

"Wow!" Coach was shocked by the correct answer. "Who are you and what have you done to McCall?" he advanced to Scott desk to happily point his finger in his face. "Don't answer that. I like you better, I like you better," he stood straight again and looked around the room. "Does anybody have a quarter?"

"I do," Stiles answer, shoving his hand into his pocket to grab the coin.

In what felt like slow motion, a small foil packet flew out of his jeans and through the air, landing on the floor right in front of Coach's feet. When Olivia saw what the packet actually was, her face grew hot in embarrassment and irritation.

It was a fucking condom. What the hell was Stiles carrying around a condom for? He had made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to have sex with her yet but he was carrying around a condom in his pocket? Was he breaking up with her because of their fight? Was he looking for another girlfriend?

Olivia was fully aware of how pathetic her thoughts had turned and she really didn't like it. She knew that Stiles loved her but the insecure and whiny part of her—a part that she didn't know she had until then—was throwing a fit and silencing her common sense. She couldn't stand how her relationship with Stiles had turned her into such an insecure and jealous little girl.

She loved him and their relationship but she certainly didn't like this part of her. This wasn't the real Olivia Martin.

The whole class went silent as Coach bent down to pick up the condom. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lydia give her a suggestive look but she was too busy staring at Stiles and the flush of his mole-speckled cheeks. He was frozen as Coach cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Stilinski," Coach coughed weakly. "I think you, uh, I think you dropped this," he handed the condom back to Stiles before he lowered his voice to add, "and congratulations."

It was only then that she saw the condom displayed itself as extra-extra-large. If her cheeks could heat up any further, she was sure a thermometer would show that she had a fever.

And then Stiles looked back at her with mixed emotions on his face. She could see that he was embarrassed and apologetic but there was also something else burning in his gaze that she couldn't decipher. She didn't know how to respond to his gaze; was she supposed to glare at him or smile?

In the end, she turned away as Coach started his lecture again.

"Risk and reward," he declared, turning to walk back to the front of the classroom to pick a mug up from his desk. "Put the quarter in the mug, win the reward. Okay, watch Coach."

He put the mug on the floor in front of his desk and then backed up five feet. Crouching down, he exhaled sharply and focused on the mug. Then, after a few seconds of lead up, he bounced the quarter off the floor and into the mug.

Olivia clapped with the rest of her classmates as Coach celebrated.

"That's how you do it!" Coach cheered before throwing the quarter over to Danny, who was sitting in front of Scott. "Okay, Danny. Risk or reward?"

Danny looked at the quarter in his hands. "What's the reward?"

"You don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow."

"Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it," Danny reminded him.

Coach ripped the quarter from his hands. "Danny, you know, I really expect more from you at this point. Really," he moved onto Scott. "McCall, risk and reward. The risk; if you don't put that quarter in the mug, you have to take the pop—the quiz—and you have to write an essay. Risk, more work. Reward, no work at all...Or choose not to play."

Scott picked up the quarter that Coach put on his desk. "But isn't this just chance?"

"No," Coach disagreed. "You know your abilities, your coordination, your focus, and past experience—all factors affecting the outcome...So, what's it gonna be, McCall? More work, no work, or choose not to play?"

Scott stared at the quarter for a few seconds before firmly setting it down on his desk.

"No play," Coach said aloud for the people who hadn't seen Scott's decision. He took the quarter back and looked around the room. "Okay, who's next? Who wants the quarter?"

Stiles rapidly drummed on his textbook, catching Coach's attention.

"There ya go! There's a gambling man! Come on. Step up, step up!" he handed the quarter to Stiles and allowed him to head to the front of the room. "All right, _Stilinski_."

Stiles took his position five feet away from the mug and bent his knees to get better aim. He was so focused on getting the quarter in the mug that he didn't even notice that the classroom door opened and his father stepped into the room.

"Olivia."

Olivia was shocked to hear her name come from the sheriff but Stiles had misinterpreted it. He thought that Coach was getting Olivia's attention. "I'm Stiles, actually."

"Stiles, no," Noah shook his head at his son, who finally looked up and saw him standing there. He turned to where Olivia was sitting and nodded solemnly. "I need to speak with you, Olivia."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek but steeled herself as she got up out of her seat. The few feet between her and the sheriff felt like miles but in reality, it took her less than ten seconds to join him and his deputy in the hallway.

"Sheriff, what's going on?" she asked worriedly. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything to warrant a visit from the police and if it was about Thomas or Natalie, they would have called Lydia out, too. That meant that something had to have happened to Peter or Derek. That was the scope of her relatives.

"Olivia, I'm sorry to tell you this here but your friend, Heath Sommers, was reported missing," Noah told her; Olivia raised an eyebrow, shocked by what he revealed. "Now, we heard from some of his friends that you interacted with him at his party last night. Do you have any idea if Heath was going to go somewhere and he might not have told someone?"

"N-No, he didn't—he didn't mention anything," Olivia stammered as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that Heath was missing when she just saw him less than twenty-four hours ago. "He spilled a drink on me last night and he gave me one of his mom's shirts. Are you sure he's missing?"

"We're sure," Noah confirmed with a nod. "Did you talk about anything that may have been suspicious?"

Olivia thought back to the conversation she had with Heath. "He told me that he was struggling with his teammates," she recalled. She wasn't sure if she should reveal Heath's struggle with his sexuality or not. She decided not to; that was Heath's business to share. "They were teasing him."

"Do you know what they were teasing him about?"

"No, sir," she shook her head, her mind racing. "Am I in trouble? I told you everything that I know."

It was a lie but they didn't need to know about that particular part of their conversation.

"You're not in trouble," Noah assured her. "We just needed to follow through since his friends said that you were the last person who saw him."

That surprised her. "Really?"

Noah nodded. "We hope that it's just a series of bad decisions based on too much to drink but if you remember anything else, you should call me."

"I will," Olivia promised.

"All right," Noah sighed and shared a nod with his deputy. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you later, Olivia. Have a good rest of the day."

"Thanks, you too."

She stayed in her spot as Noah and the deputy left the hallway to head back to the office. Once she was sure they weren't coming back, she walked over to the wall next to the classroom door and slid down onto the floor. After she pulled her knees up to her chest, she rested her forehead against them.

Not only were Erica and Boyd still missing but now Heath was too. It was odd that three people that she knew were no where to be found...Unless it wasn't odd and it wasn't a coincidence. The alpha pack had taken Erica and Boyd, who's to say they didn't take Heath, too? She didn't know why the alpha pack was targeting people she knew, but she was admittedly the closest person to Derek, so if they were after him, maybe they were after her too.

It made her feel like she was having a heart attack just thinking about it. Because if they were targeting people around her, not only was she responsible for Heath's disappearance but the other people she loved and cared for might be next. She couldn't handle that.

She pressed her hand flat against her heart and inhaled deeply, trying to relax. She wished that she could have a calming effect on herself like she had for werewolves. She really got the raw end of the deal on that.

The door opened beside her and someone walked out of the classroom, coming to stand in front of her. When she removed her head from her knees, she saw that it was Scott kneeling in front of her with worried eyes. He must have heard her freaking out.

"Hey."

"Hi," Scott smiled slightly. "You okay? I heard what the sheriff said."

"Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "but Scott, I think the alpha pack took Heath."

"You think that they kidnapped Heath?" Scott raised an eyebrow in surprise. "To what, turn him?"

"I don't know," she said honestly; what else would alpha werewolves do with a human? "but Derek said that it's easier to turn teenagers."

"A pack of alphas with a beta?"

"I know it sounds crazy," she acknowledged. "but I've known Heath since I was a baby and I feel like it's my fault that they took him."

"Okay, okay," Scott nodded calmly. "So we need Isaac to remember where he found Boyd and Erica then."

"Peter couldn't even do that and he did that weird mind-meld thing," she sighed, leaning her head against the wall. "Do you know any other werewolves that might know something different? Because I don't."

"I don't either," Scott said. "but maybe we don't need another werewolf. Maybe we need someone who knows a lot about them."

The bag of ice in Stiles' hands was freezing and borderline painful but the more he handled the frozen cubes, the less he noticed. Deaton must have bought thirty of the ten-pound bags of ice in preparation for the little ritual he was going to do to Isaac. He, Scott, and Derek dutifully poured them into the tub of water that was full of some special herbs that Deaton wouldn't really explain.

Yeah, like that wasn't creepy at all.

Meanwhile, Stiles also kept an ear out for Deaton's conversation with Isaac and Olivia. He was giving them a little information about the ritual and for some reason, Olivia had to join the beta. It annoyed the fuck out of Stiles that Olivia had been stuck to Isaac's side since they all arrived at the animal clinic but that the jealous side of him. Logically he knew that she wanted to be there for her friend and pack mate. He just didn't like it—then again, he didn't like Isaac much.

"Obviously, it's not going to be particularly comfortable," Deaton told Isaac. "but if we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trance-like state."

"Like being hypnotized," Olivia offered.

"Exactly," Deaton confirmed before addressing Isaac again while they walked into the exam room where Stiles, Derek, and Scott had finished up, "You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your subconscious mind."

"How slow does his heart rate need to be?" Scott wondered as Isaac crouched down near the tub of ice water.

"Very slow."

"Okay, well, how slow is very slow?" Derek asked, annoyed with how cryptic the veterinarian was being.

"Nearly dead."

Stiles didn't like how casual Deaton's tone was and by the looks everyone else was giving him, they didn't like it either.

Isaac cautiously put a hand on top of the freezing water and hissed when his skin made contact. "It's safe, though, right?"

Stiles turned away from the conversation, a little bored—it was Isaac, all right? —and wandered over to the counters. They were in the only exam room in the animal clinic which meant that this was the same room he, Olivia, and Derek were in when the werewolf was shot with that wolfsbane bullet. Stiles had seen some pretty interesting stuff when he was cleaning up the counter but he hadn't had time to explore then. Now he had time.

"Do you want me to answer honestly?"

Stiles found the protective gloves first; there were three different boxes on display, each one of them a different size. He was most interested in the long gloves. He had seen Dr. Pol before so he knew that they were the ones that vets wore when sticking their hands up an animal's butt.

He scrambled to put one on.

"No. No, not really," Isaac sighed flatly.

The end of the rubber glove snapped the inside of his elbow painfully but he didn't wince. The sound had gotten the attention of everyone else so he smiled at them, proud of his actions. No one else seemed to be.

"What?"

Olivia and Derek raised their eyebrows in unison—and, of course, the expressions were identical. He rolled his eyes in annoyance and ripped the glove off his arm, throwing it to the side.

"Look," Derek turned to Isaac as the younger werewolf stood to his feet. "if it feels too risky, you don't have to do this."

"If it helps, you won't be doing this alone," Deaton offered to everyone's surprise. "Olivia will be joining you."

"Excuse me, what?" Stiles interrupted, looking at Olivia worriedly. He really hoped that she wasn't getting in that tub with Isaac because he definitely didn't want her in a position where her heart was beating so slow that she was nearly dead.

"You didn't mention anything about that," Derek glared at the vet.

"Relax," Olivia soothed them. "I'll just be guiding him through the process."

Stiles crossed his arms over his chest, uncomfortable. "Why does it have to be you?"

"As an anchor, Olivia has a unique relationship with each member of the pack that not even the alpha has," Deaton informed them. "She's connected to them on a mental level, where most people wouldn't be able to connect. She's the most likely to access Isaac's subconsciousness."

Stiles nodded slowly, coming to an understanding. Olivia wouldn't be in danger, she would just be guiding Isaac through the ritual. He wasn't going to tell her what to do, anyway. She never listened to him so what was the point? She was an independent woman who was free to make her own choices, Stiles understood that.

Olivia glanced between him and Derek. "Are you satisfied with that explanation or do you want to protest more?"

Stiles scowled at her while Derek rolled his eyes. She was so prickly sometimes—it was the Hale in her. He was sure of it.

Ready to start, Olivia took a seat on a roll-y stool at the head of the tub while Isaac removed his shirt. He inhaled deeply before stepping into the tub and sitting down into the water. The icy water must have seized his lungs, as he started panting right away.

Scott and Derek stood on either side of him with their sleeves rolled up, ready to force him into the water. Stiles took his place at the foot of the tub as they shoved him underwater, water and ice splashing everywhere.

With a roar, Isaac came springing from the water, fangs bared and eyes gold. Stiles hurriedly ducked his hand under the water and grabbed onto his legs, ignoring the cold to use all of his strength to keep him still.

"Get him back under," Deaton ordered him, Derek, and Scott.

"Isaac," Olivia's voice was almost like she was singing as she reached for his head to press her fingertips against his temples. He calmed only a little, still thrashing beneath their hands.

He went under the water again but only a second later he popped right back up.

"Hold him!"

"We're trying," Derek hissed at the veterinarian.

"_Isaac_!" Olivia raised her voice while Derek and Scott ducked him back under. Her eyes were purple now and even though she was staring in Stiles' direction he knew that she wasn't seeing him.

Isaac stilled under the water and when he, Scott, and Derek removed their hands from him, he slowly floated to the top, only his face peeking out.

"Now, remember," Deaton spoke softly as to not disturb Isaac. "only Olivia should talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out."

Stiles, Scott, and Derek all nodded in agreement. No talking for them.

"Olivia."

"Isaac," Olivia's voice was calm and soothing while still being clear. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you," Isaac spoke like he wasn't actually awake. Which, Stiles knew, he wasn't. He was hypnotized—at least, that was what Deaton said.

"It's Liv."

Stiles raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend; since when did Isaac call start calling her Liv?

_Not really a time to get jealous, Stiles!_ He reminded himself harshly.

"I need to ask you some questions. Is that all right?"

Isaac's voice trembled; whether it was from the cold water or his nerves, Stiles couldn't say. "Yes."

"I have to ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd," Olivia stated. "You need to remember it for me as detailed as possible. Like you're actually there again."

"I-I don't—I don't want to do that," the lights started blinking on and off as Isaac started to freak out. "I don't want to do that."

"It's all right, Isaac," Olivia almost cooed. "I'm right here with you. You just need to relax. They're just memories. You can be hurt by memories."

"I don't want to do that."

"It's all right."

"I don't want to do that."

"Relax, Isaac," she shushed him and her purple irises seemed to brighten for a moment; Isaac calmed down, going still again. "Good, good...Okay, let's go back to that night where you found Erica and Boyd. Can you show me what you see? Is there some kind of building or house?"

Olivia's eyes started darting around the room as if she was seeing the same thing that Isaac remembered. Thankfully, Isaac clued the rest of them in on what they were seeing. "It's not...it's not a house. It's stone. I think it's marble."

"Perfect, Isaac. I can see it," Olivia confirmed. "Can you give me anything else?"

She must have been seeing things only as Isaac started to remember them.

"It's dusty, so empty."

"Like an abandoned building," while Olivia spoke, Stiles exchanged looks with Scott and Derek. This was much weirder than any of them thought it would be. "Isaac?"

Isaac started to shift nervously again. "Someone's here," he whispered frantically. "Someone's here."

"Isaac, relax," Olivia ordered.

"No, no, no, they see me, they see me!"

"It's just a memory," she reminded him. "You can't be hurt by it. Just relax."

Isaac whimpered in fear but eventually calmed down again. Stiles actually felt sorry for the guy; even if he didn't like Isaac, he didn't want to see him hurt.

"Good, good...Show me what you see. Show me everything."

"I hear him," Isaac stated. "He's talking about the full moon, about being out of control when the moon rises."

"Is he talking to Erica?"

"I think so. I can't—I can't see her. I can't...I can't...I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?" Olivia asked patiently.

"They're worried," he murmured. "They're worried what they'll do during the moon. They're worried that they're gonna hurt each other."

Derek looked at Scott worriedly. "If they're locked in together on the full moon, they're gonna tear each other apart."

That was definitely _not_ a good thing.

"Isaac, we have to find them right now," Olivia said urgently. "Can you see them?"

"No."

"Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of marker, a number on a door, or a sign?"

Isaac gasped deeply and sat up; he almost pulled Olivia into the tub with him if it wasn't for Derek grabbing her in time. "They're here!" he whimpered. "They...they..."

"I know. It's okay..."

"No!"

"Just show me—"

"They see me, they found me," Isaac said breathlessly. "They're here!"

Derek looked at Deaton in disapproval. "This isn't working," he declared before turning back to Isaac. "Isaac, where are you?"

"I can't see them. It's too dark!"

"Just tell me where you are!" Derek ordered.

"You're confusing him," Deaton interjected.

"I can't see!"

"Isaac, where are you? Just tell me where you are!"

"His heart rate! He could go into shock!"

"Derek, let him go," Scott pulled Derek's grip away from Isaac.

"Isaac, where are you?! What did you see?!"

"They got me! It's so dark. I can't see! Oh, my God, there's a dead body! It's Erica!"

Olivia gasped loudly, the purple in her eyes rapidly fading to their normal cobalt-blue state. She fell back from the stool and landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her. Stiles let go of Isaac's legs and rushed over to her, kneeling down next to her to see if she was okay.

To his shock, she was crying.

"Livvy," he gathered her into his arms and crushed her to his chest. "Are you okay? Babe, are you all right?"

"It was Erica," she whimpered shakily, digging her face into his shirt.

Stiles winced and looked up at Derek, seeing that the alpha had gone still in shock. His gaze to Scott, who was staring back at him with a sad look. If what Olivia and Isaac said was true, that meant that Erica was dead.

"It's a bank vault!" Isaac chose that time to startle awake, blinking the water from his eyes. "I saw it! I saw the name," he stood up and Scott immediately handed him the towel they set out for him earlier. "It's, uh...B-Beacon Hills First National Bank. It's, um, it's an abandoned bank and they're keeping them locked inside the vault."

Stiles grimaced and looked back down at Olivia, leaning his chin on her head to provide any comfort that she could take. Isaac noticed how uncomfortable they all looked and almost blanched when he saw the upset state Olivia was in.

"What?"

"You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles asked him.

Isaac shook his head. "No."

"You said when they captured you that they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it."

"What body?"

"Erica," Stiles sighed sadly. "You said it was Erica."

Isaac was shocked into silence, just like Derek and Olivia, but he had enough in him to sit down first. While Scott and Deaton cleaned up the huge mess of water, Stiles grabbed Olivia her own towel, as she had gotten the most wet while dealing with Isaac. When she was settled on the same table as Isaac, he jumped up to sit next to her and allowed her to nestle her head into his shoulder.

Any anger that he had with her was gone. Yeah, she lied to him about the alpha pack and they needed to work on that but that was old news now. There were more important things to worry about; Erica was dead and Boyd was still with the alpha pack, bound to lose control during the full moon that was coming up in twenty-four hours.

"I don't think you saw Erica's body," Derek finally spoke up; it was clear that he was deep in denial. "It could've been your imagination."

"It was her," Olivia croaked, her bloodshot eyes turning to her cousin. "I saw her, too."

Derek shook his head and raised his voice. "She's not dead!"

"Derek, he said that there was a dead body and that it was Erica," Stiles tried to get through to him. "That doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation."

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?"

"Someone else, obviously."

"Maybe it was the girl on the motorcycle," Scott piggybacked off what Stiles had said. "The one who saved Isaac."

"No, she wasn't like us," Isaac shook his head. "and whoever was in the vault with Boyd was."

Stiles blinked thoughtfully. "What if that's how Erica died?" he mused aloud. "They, like, pit them against each other during the full moons and see which one survives. It's like werewolf Thunderdome."

"Then we get them out tonight," Derek decided.

"Be smart about this, Derek," Deaton interjected. "You can't just go storming in."

Derek stood his ground. "If Isaac got in, then so can we."

"But he didn't get through a vault door, did he?"

Stiles dug his hand into his jeans for his phone; he quickly booted up his internet app and searched for Beacon Hills First National Bank to see exactly why it was abandoned in the first place. Maybe it would be something that would help them get Boyd and the mystery girl out of there.

"We need a plan," Scott sighed.

"How are we gonna come up with a plan to break into a _bank vault_ in less than twenty-four hours?"

Stiles smirked at the information he pulled up on his phone. "Uh, I think someone already did," he answered Derek before reading the article's headline. "_Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery_. It doesn't say here how it was robbed but it probably won't take long to find out."

Derek looked at him with a firm gaze. "How long?"

"It's the internet, Derek, okay?" Stiles scoffed and smirked at the alpha werewolf. "Minutes."

"Okay," Stiles whipped open the blueprint plans for Beacon Hills First National Bank and set it on Derek's table, spreading out until it was flat against the surface. He pulled out a red sharpie from his pocket and hovered it over the plans. "See this?" he marked an 'X' on a small box on the paper. "This is how they got in. It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. It leads down inside, into the wall of the vault, which is here," he marked the large square that acted as the bank vault. "Okay?"

Olivia pressed her lips together as she listened carefully, paying strict attention to everything that Stiles said. This was going to one of the most important things she would learn in her life; Boyd's life and the life of the girl that was stuck in the vault with him depended on them and their ability to remember the layout of the building and the plan they were coming up with.

"One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft," Stiles continued, marking a smaller box right off the vault. "Now, that space is so small it took him about twelve hours to drill into that wall—which is stone, by the way. Then, throughout the rest of the night, they siphoned cash up to the guys back on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall," he slapped the blueprint and capped his marker. "Boom."

"Can we fit in there?" Scott asked on Stiles' left, leaning over the blueprints.

"Yes, we can, but barely," Stiles told him. "And they also patched the wall, obviously, so we're gonna need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit..."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Olivia couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend. She loved how passionate he got about things, especially when it came down to law enforcement or crimes and how they happened.

"Look, forget the drill," Derek sighed, already fed up with Stiles despite the fact that they only started this little meeting ten minutes before.

Stiles looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Sorry?"

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?"

Stiles looked at Olivia to see if Derek was serious; when she nodded, he turned back to Derek. "What do you...what do you think you're gonna do, Derek?" he demanded. "You gonna punch through the wall?"

Derek straightened up and folded his arms over his chest; Stiles stood up to his full height, too, only an inch shorter than Derek, as to not be deterred by him.

"Yes, Stiles, I'm gonna punch through the wall," Derek almost looked amused as he confirmed Stiles' suspicions.

"Okay, big guy, let's see it. Let's see that fist," Stiles dared him. "Big, old fist, make it, come on. Get it out there, don't be scared. Big, bad wolf."

Olivia sighed in exasperation and looked toward the spiral staircase where her father was sitting. It was no secret that Peter disapproved of her relationship with Stiles—even if he didn't mind the kid—so to see him roll his eyes so heavily at Stiles' antics didn't surprise her.

Stiles _was_ hard to get used to, she knew that from experience.

Derek finally held up his right fist. "Yeah, look at that," Stiles smirked and put his hand up, palm splayed open, only three inches away from Derek's hand. "Okay, see this? That's maybe three inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid con—"

Derek quickly pushed his fist forward, harshly connecting with Stiles' palm. Stiles was forced back where he fell onto the table, groaning in obvious pain. He clutched his injured hand with his other and jumped up to start pacing, as if that would help him overcome it.

"He could do it," he wheezed.

"I'll get through the wall," Derek declared, his gaze flickering over to Peter. "Who's following me down?"

"Don't look at me," Peter said quickly. "I'm not up to fighting speed yet and honestly, with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."

Olivia wasn't surprised with Peter's little speech. He didn't care about Erica or Boyd so he wouldn't be bothered to do anything to help them. He didn't know what it was like to have a pack—he didn't care about anyone but himself.

"So I'm supposed to just let them die?" Derek demanded.

"One of them is already dead," Peter reminded him.

"We don't know that."

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against here?" Peter shook his head in disbelief. "A pack of alphas, all of them killers. And if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach, try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant alpha. I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids, they're gonna be missed."

Stiles scoffed. "Can someone kill him again, please?"

Peter glared at him before looking at his nephew once more. "Derek, seriously? Not worth the risk."

"Okay, look," Olivia spoke up, trying to move on from her selfish father's perspective. "Allison and I will be going around the front so that we can meet you in there. If I can calm Boyd and that girl down, we don't need as much manpower."

"True," Derek nodded and looked over at Scott. "What about you?"

Stiles thought that he was talking to him. "Yeah, if you want me to come—"

"Not you."

Stiles clicked his tongue in realization and pointed to Scott. "Got it."

"I don't know about Erica but if Boyd's still alive, we have to do something," Scott stated. "We have to try..."

"But?" Derek sensed that there was more he wanted to say.

"Who's the other girl? The one locked in there with Boyd?" he wondered.

"Right now, I don't think it matters," Olivia said bluntly. "The moon is gonna rise soon, so we need to get going. Once this is all over, then we can focus on this mystery girl."

Derek nodded at her in approval. "Ollie's right. Let's get ready."

There wasn't much in the way of getting ready but Stiles did come over to Olivia while Scott and Derek spoke a little more about their part of the plan.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered to her; she could hear the worry in his voice and it made her stomach fill with butterflies. "You could get hurt."

"Allison's gonna be with me," she reminded him. "and it's not like we're gonna go storming in. This is a covert mission, Stilinski."

A smile made its way to Stiles' mouth. "Fine, fine," he conceded. "but be careful, all right? If you get hurt, I'll lose my fucking mind."

Olivia laughed lightly and pulled him into a tight hug, using her tiptoes to lay her chin on his shoulder. "I'll be careful," she promised; she knew he was serious about losing his mind if anything happened to her. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Livvy."

Olivia hid her smile in his shoulder; she couldn't let him know that she actually looked forward to hearing him call her by that name.


	27. Very Busy Night

**[3x02; Chaos Rising + 3x03; Fireflies]**

Allison pulled her bolt cutters from where she was hiding them behind her back and snipped at the chain holding the front doors to Beacon Hills First National closed. Olivia quickly grabbed the chain before it could fall to the ground and make any nose, alerting the alpha pack that someone was breaking into the bank. The last thing they needed was to get caught right away; that wouldn't make a very successful mission.

Olivia and Allison nodded at each other before they opened one of the doors and slipped into the abandoned building. It was very dark inside, which made it hard to see, but at least the subtle glare of the full moon provided a little light to guide them around. The bank was just as Olivia saw in Isaac's memories, dusty and deserted. The lobby was full of mishappen furniture that was thrown about, including chairs, desks, and teller counters that would have been nice once upon a time. The whole feel of it gave Olivia the creeps—and it didn't help that the full moon was starting to affect the werewolves in her life.

She could feel five different struggles in her mind, each belonging to the werewolves she considered pack. It was a little distracting, having to feel a loss of control while having no side effects from the moon herself. She had to make sure that she wasn't focusing on her pack but on what she was involved in. If she didn't focus, she would lose control and act like she did in the classroom on the first day of school. She wouldn't be able to do anything and she wouldn't be able to have Allison's back or protect herself—not that she could do much fighting, anyway.

She clenched her fists as she and Allison walked through the lobby, dodging the old furniture, and made their way back to hallway that would lead to the offices. They passed a couple of file cabinets on the way, but they were only a quarter of the way through the hallway when someone attacked.

Allison was quick to defend them, drawing one of her ring daggers and blocking the woman who had pushed them. Unfortunately, Allison was too caught off guard and Olivia was practically useless in defending themselves; the woman pushed both of them up against the wall.

It was then that Olivia saw exactly who it was that attacked them.

"Ms. Morrell?" she breathed in confusion. She was the guidance counselor, for crying out loud. Lydia and Stiles literally had appointments with her every week. What the hell was she doing in the alpha pack's den?

"Keep your mouths shut and listen close," Ms. Morrell warned them. "You have no idea what you two just stepped into. Right now, you've got maybe twenty seconds to get your asses hidden."

"What are you doing?" Allison asked.

"Get in that storage closet over there and lock the door," Ms. Morrel nodded at the door behind Olivia and to the right. "When you hear the fighting start, that's when you come out."

"There isn't supposed to be fighting," Olivia stated; their plan was for her to calm down Boyd and the girl and get them out of there before the alpha pack even knew they were there.

"You're wrong," Ms. Morrel said. "You'll hear it. Now go!"

Ms. Morrell let go of Olivia and Allison and ran out of the hallway. They didn't waste any time as they rushed toward the storage closet and entered the room, quietly shutting the door behind them. It was pitch black in the room and as expected, the light switch didn't work. They were blind for the moment.

And then they heard the multiple sets of footsteps. Realizing what was happening at the same time, they both nudged each other away from the door and held their breath, hoping that the oncoming alphas wouldn't be able to hear them.

That didn't exactly take care of their scents, though.

As the footsteps started to pass by the closet, Allison knocked over a jug of cleaner. Olivia didn't know exactly what it was but it sure smell strong enough to hide their scents. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too suspicious that there was a strong chemical smell coming from the closet out of nowhere. It was a storage closet, though, so who knew.

Nothing happened, though. They weren't caught. When the footsteps faded away until they were sure no one would come back, Allison shredded her jacket and placed it on the puddle of cleaner, hoping to dilute the scent that burned their nostrils. Olivia quickly pulled her phone from her own jacket and turned on the flashlight; now there was enough light to at least get their bearings.

However, when Olivia spotted something out of the corner of her eye, she wished she wouldn't have turned the light on at all. When the beam of light hit Erica's body, her stomach heaved and her chest tightened. Her eyes stung as she looked at her former packmate; her body was already decomposing, her skin chalk white with spots of decay here and there.

"Oh, my God," she breathed shakily. She grabbed Allison's offered hand and squeezed it with all of her might, trying not to freak out and blow the whole operation.

Erica was only two months older than her. She spent most of her life without friends and riddled with seizures that brought her self-confidence down to the negatives. When she was given the bite, she was okay for less than a month before she was being hunted down by the Argents. She didn't get to live the life she deserved and it made Olivia sick to her stomach. Erica was good. She was _good_ and she deserved better than what she got.

She hastily wiped her wet face with the back of the hand that held her phone. It was no use, more tears were already slipping down her cheeks. She felt like a piece of her was missing and she couldn't believe that she hadn't even known that Erica was killed because it was clear that it had been more than a couple of weeks that her body had been in the closet.

"I'm so sorry, Liv," Allison squeezed her hand in comfort. She hadn't been friends with Erica like Olivia had been but it was still upsetting to see her dead. They were classmates and had Erica been on the right side of things, maybe they would have been friends. They'd never know now.

Stiles stared out the huge window in Derek's loft, staring at the full moon in the sky. It had been maybe an hour since Olivia, Derek, and Scott left but he was already impatient for them to get back. He didn't like waiting, especially when his girlfriend and best friend were risking their lives at the moment.

"I can't take waiting around like this, you know?" he spoke aloud, hoping that Peter would understand his worry. "It's nerve-racking. My nerves are racked. They're severely racked. _Racked_."

Why would Peter care, though? It wasn't like his own _daughter_ and _nephew_ were in danger. "I could beat you unconscious and wake you when it's over."

Stiles rolled his eyes and turned away from the window, facing Peter where he was laying on the couch. "Do you think that Erica's really dead?"

"Do you think I really care?"

Stiles quickly moved on and changed the subject as he started pacing around the loft. "I just, I don't understand the bank, though, okay? What—like, why wouldn't they chain them up in some underground lair or something? They're an alpha pack, right, so shouldn't they have a lair?"

"They're werewolves, not Bond villains."

"Wait a sec, wait a sec," Stiles turned back to him. "Maybe they're living there, you know? Like, maybe the bank vault reminds them of their little wolf dens."

Peter opened his eyes and stared at him blankly. "Wolf dens?"

"Yeah, wolf dens," Stiles nodded. "Where do you live?"

Suffice to say, his girlfriend's father hadn't exactly invited him around for dinner.

"In an underground network of caves hidden deep in the woods."

Maybe that was why. "Woah, really?"

"No, you idiot," Peter rolled his eyes. "I have an apartment downtown."

Stiles almost felt a little disappointed. "Okay, fine, but still, that just proves that there's something up with the bank," he pointed out. "And why wait around for the full moon, huh? Why not just kill them whenever they want to?"

"Maybe they think it's poetic," Peter suggested casually.

He shook his head. "They've already had three full moons to be poetic."

"And here, you've only had one full hour to be so annoying..."

Stiles waited for him to go on complaining about him but he didn't. "No, go ahead and finish what you were saying. I'm—I'm annoying...What were you gonna say there?"

Peter didn't rise to his challenge. "What are the walls made of?"

"What?" Confused, Stiles looked around the loft. "Uh, I don't know, like, wood and brick, or—"

"No, the vault, the vault," Peter jumped up from the coach and headed over to the bank's blueprints that were still spread out on the table. "the walls, what are they made out of? Where would it say that?" he went through the various pages of plans. "This doesn't say anything. Where would it say the materials, the type of stone?"

"Oh! Okay, hang on," Stiles rushed over to the table and searched for the binder that held the details of the build; when he finally found it, he handed it over to the werewolf. "Here, it's gotta be in there."

He looked carefully as Peter swiped through the pages, looking for what kind of stone they used for the vault. When they finally came to the page that held the details for the vault, Stiles discovered the section of materials.

"There," Stiles pointed to the section. "That's it."

"_Hecatolite_," Peter read.

"Is that awful? That sounds awful."

"Get them on the phone," Peter demanded. "Call them, now."

"Okay," Stiles scrambled for his phone and quickly started dialing Scott. "why?"

"Because Boyd and that girl aren't gonna kill each other, they're gonna kill Derek and Scott."

Panic raising in his chest, Stiles pressed his phone to his ear and was relieved when Scott picked up.

_"Stiles, now is not the best time."_

"Scott, Scott!" he exclaimed frantically. "No, listen to me, okay? Look, you gotta get out of there. Look, the walls of the vault are made with a mineral called Hecatolite. It scatters the moonlight."

_"What does that mean?"_

"It keeps the moonlight out, okay? They haven't felt the full moon in months."

"Okay, think of it like the gladiators in the Roman colosseum," Peter took over explaining. "They used to starve the lions for three days, making them more vicious, more out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three full moons, diminishing their tolerance to it."

"Scott, they're gonna be stronger—"

"More savage, more bloodthirsty," Peter cut him off. "Scott, they're the lions. They're the starved lions and you and Derek just stepped into the colosseum."

"_Derek, we have a problem,"_ they heard Scott say. "_A really big problem."_

Then came Derek's surprised voice. "_Cora_?"

"_Who_?"

Stiles looked at Peter, wondering if he knew a Cora. The shocked look on his face made him think that he did.

"_Cora_?"

"_Derek, get out_," a female voice came from the other line. "_Get out now!"_

"Scott," Stiles spoke again, hoping to get Scott's attention. "Hey, Scott! Scott, are you hearing this?"

Vicious growling started out on the other line and they could hear the fighting start.

"Scott?!"

The dial tone started beeping.

The fighting started not long after Olivia and Allison discovered Erica's body. They waited only five minutes before they set out of the closet, afraid that they were run into any members of the alpha pack on their way to the vault.

From the loud growling, the vicious roars, and the painted grunting, Scott and Derek had to have been having a bad time in that vault. The crashing and bangs didn't bode well for them, either.

Olivia had to get in there, now.

She and Allison were quick getting to the vault. Olivia was quick to notice the circle of mountain ash on the floor and that was good and bad. It was bad because Derek and Scott couldn't get out of the vault but it was good because neither could the girl or Boyd. Believe it or not, it was safer for Beacon Hills if Boyd and the girl were contained in one place. It wasn't so good for Derek and Scott, though.

"Look out!" Allison yelled as Olivia jumped over the seal and into the vault. Derek and Scott jumped out of the way as the mystery girl and Boyd lunged for them.

Boyd hit his target with Scott, digging his claws into his stomach and rising him up into the air. Scott grunted and searched for the strength to get out of Boyd's hold but he was unable to fight back.

"Boyd!" Olivia rushed to a stop and held out her hands toward her large packmate. He was seething and out of control as he turned away from an injured Scott to glare at her. "Boyd, control yourself!"

He roared a her, furious. Honestly, it scared Olivia more than a little bit. For some reason, Boyd was more out of control than usual and she didn't know if she could do anything about it. Yeah, she had been practicing with her abilities and they've grown stronger but Boyd was only with her for a month. She didn't even know the girl, so it'd be hard to do anything to her.

Then Olivia was on the ground, a girl her age hovering over her. The breath was knocked out of her chest and she was pretty sure she was going to die but when she took a look at the girl's face, time seemed to stop.

She knew who the mystery girl was now and she couldn't believe it. Cora, her cousin who was born only a year before her, was supposed to have died in the fire. That's what they all assumed when she didn't show up after the disaster that ravished the Hale house and killed Olivia's aunt and mother, along with other members of the pack. They hadn't seen her for six and a half years and now, all of a sudden, here she was, trapped in a bank vault by the alpha pack.

How had she even survived?

"Cora?" she breathed in shock. "You're alive."

Cora's face only slight softened as she realized exactly who she had tackled. She didn't really get to think on it further when Derek plowed into her, knocking her off their cousin and onto the floor.

"Ollie, go!"

Olivia hurriedly got up and backed away from her cousins, heading toward Boyd and Scott. She said nothing, as to not give away her position, and slapped her hand onto Boyd's back. Her gaze was tinted purple as she concentrated all of her energy into calming Boyd down so he wouldn't end up killing Scott.

"Come on, Boyd."

He was fighting her and it was hard to get a hold of him. Just as she was only a second away from reaching him and getting him into control, Derek called out, "No, don't break the seal!"

Her concentration lost, she looked over at Allison just as the taller brunette crouched down to break the mountain ash barrier.

"Boyd!" Allison called, getting the beta's attention.

As Boyd let go of Scott, Olivia tried to wrap her hands around his huge arm. "_BOYD_!"

Boyd only faltered for a long second before Allison broke the barrier. He ripped away from her grasp and sped out of the vault, Cora on his tail. Olivia stared after them in belief; she was so close to getting to Boyd.

Derek angrily stormed out of the vault and grabbed Allison's arm.

"Don't touch her!" Scott pushed him away as he and Olivia approached.

"What were you thinking?" Derek growled at her.

"That I had to do something," Allison shot back."

Scott immediately jumped to Allison's defense. "She saved our lives."

_But she could have put many more in danger_, Olivia thought to herself. She didn't blame Allison for what she did; if she were in her shoes and was watching Stiles get beaten up by a raving werewolf, she'd break the seal too.

"Yeah and what do you think they're gonna do out there?" Derek brought up the point that Olivia made in her head. "Do you have any idea what you just set free?"

"You want to blame me?" Allison scoffed in disbelief, her eyes narrowed into daggers. "Well, I'm not the one turning teenagers into killers."

"No, that's just the rest of your family," Derek retorted.

It was totally not the time but Olivia was impressed by Derek's comeback. Until now, none of Derek's betas had been bloodthirsty or out of control. Allison couldn't say the same about herself or her family of hunters.

Allison slumped a little at his comment, seeming to know that Derek's words weren't exactly a lie. "I made mistakes," she admitted. "Gerard is not my fault."

"And what about your mother?"

"Derek!" Olivia hissed at her cousin. Did he really have to bring that up at a time like this? They needed to be out there looking for Boyd and Cora.

Allison, however, wanted to know what Derek meant. "What do you mean?"

Derek turned to Scott with a daring look. "Tell her, Scott."

"What does he mean, Scott?" Allison's voice trembled. "What does he mean?"

Scott looked hesitant to tell her and Olivia guessed that it was because she and Derek were with them. If it was her telling Allison about her mother's actions before she died, she wouldn't want Derek around to butt in with scathing and insensitive comments—even if Victoria Argent deserved them, Allison didn't.

"Derek," Olivia spoke up, catching her cousin's attention. "We found Erica. We should—we should go and get her."

Derek's face crumpled as he seemed to realize what Olivia meant. Her heart ached as she took his arm and clutched it tightly before leading him away from Scott and Allison. They slowly walked down from the second level and to the hallway that held the storage closet she and Allison hid from the alphas in.

"She's dead..."

"Yeah," Olivia confirmed quietly, her eyes starting to sting with tears. "From the...her body looks more than a couple of weeks old."

She wanted to prepare him; he would take the loss of Erica harder since she was his beta. Even for her, the loss of a packmate was hard. It was like losing a limb; it still felt like Erica was there but when she reached out to find her, the blonde wasn't there to meet her.

Derek tightened his grip on Olivia as they entered the storage closet. He completely shocked Olivia when he faltered after laying his eyes on Erica's body. Derek was literally the strongest person she knew so it was tough to see him in such grief. He wasn't quite as bad as when most of their family died but it was still hard.

"This is all my fault," he whispered, taking in the decay of her body.

"No, it's not," Olivia insisted. "It's not, Derek. The alpha pack did this, not you."

"I was the one who turned her."

"And you didn't know it would turn out like this," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Derek, please...please believe me. This isn't on you and Erica...Erica wouldn't want you to think that way, either."

Derek shook his head and slowly let go of Olivia before taking the few steps toward Erica's body. In one swift movement, he picked Erica up and cradled her in his arms. It was so heartbreaking for Olivia to see the pure guilt and grief he felt on display. It almost hurt worse than the grief she felt for Erica.

"Come on," Derek's voice was hoarse.

They slowly walked back to the vault where Allison and Scott still stood together, discussing what really went on the night that Derek bit Victoria Argent. They arrived just as Scott was finishing, telling Allison that he couldn't have the memory of her mother trying to kill him be the last memory she ever had of her.

The both of them turned when they noticed that Olivia and Derek had arrived with Erica's body. Allison frowned sadly while Scott's face crumpled; Olivia could tell that he was very upset with Erica's fate and while it didn't make much sense because he and Erica weren't very close, it _was_ Scott. He felt for people so deeply that his reaction didn't really surprise Olivia.

Derek cleared his throat. "We'll come back for her after we catch Cora and Boyd," he stepped into the vault and gently laid down her body before turning back to Scott. "Are you ready?"

Olivia swallowed down the lump in her throat and spoke up, "If I can concentrate, I think I'll be able to find Boyd."

Derek nodded at her and then looked back at Scott. "You go after Boyd and I'll try to find Cora. Olivia, you give Scott any information that you find. I'll Isaac and Peter and get them to help. We need to get to them before they hurt anyone."

Olivia and Scott nodded in unison at him. "Let's do this."

Olivia sat at a picnic table just outside of the campground part of the reserve, her hands clasped and her eyes closed. She was deep inside her head with her focus on Boyd, mentally following him around Beacon Hills. It took a lot of energy to keep on him but she didn't have a choice. It was either this so Scott could find him, or let innocent people die. Cora had already tried to terrorize the drive-in if Derek hadn't stepped in but unfortunately, she ran off before he could catch her.

Apparently, she was much faster than Derek when she went without feeling the full moon for three full months.

She sighed when she felt Boyd take off again; she had given Scott his last location but he must have lost him.

Sure enough, Scott was calling her. Her focus now gone, she answered the phone and looked up at Derek as he made his way over to her. She put the call on speakerphone—even though he could hear it fine—just in case he wanted to talk to Scott.

"Scott?"

"_Hey_," Scott greeted her breathlessly. "_I lost Boyd_."

"You lost him?" Derek asked, disappointed.

_"Yeah, I kind of had to."_

"That wasn't exactly the plan."

"_I know, which is why I think that we should stick together,"_ Scott stated. "_Trust me, he's too strong, too fast, and way too angry for one person to handle. We've got to do this together."_

"Scott, we're at the edge of the preserve campground," Olivia spoke up, exchanging a look with Derek. "Can you meet us here?"

"_Yeah_," Scott confirmed. "_I just got to drop something off first."_

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

_"I'll fill you in later. See ya soon."_

Olivia ended the call and locked her phone, setting it on the table before looking up at Derek. "This is a nightmare."

"No kidding..."

Olivia winced as her hearing cut off and a loud scream took its place. This had happened only a half-hour earlier but this one was much more severe and terrifying. The first time she didn't even know where it came from but as the scream died down now, the whispers started.

_Lydia's there_, she heard. A picture of the community pool flashed through her mind, leaving a searing ache behind. _Lydia, Lydia, Lydia. She found him. She found him. Lydia, Lydia, Lydia._

What the actual hell?

"Ollie, are you okay?" her hearing came back all at once. She grimaced at her sensitivity and opened her eyes, seeing Derek's worried face hovering over her. "Ollie, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you," she croaked; for some reason, her throat felt sore.

"You screamed," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest. "What happened?"

She hadn't known that she screamed. Why did she? Was that Lydia who screamed in her head? That's what the whispers seemed to imply. If Lydia was the one who screamed, how did she hear it and why did she scream too?

"I heard screaming and Lydia's name," she hurriedly picked up her phone and tried to call Lydia. As she pressed her ear to her phone, she added, "She found something but I don't know what. I don't know what's going on."

To her disappointment, Lydia didn't answer. The line beeped rapidly, informing Olivia that Lydia's phone was currently busy. She hung up the call and tried Stiles; she couldn't leave to go check on Lydia, so he would have to.

_"Olivia, are you okay?"_ Stiles picked up almost immediately. "_No one called me after and I was afraid someone got to you guys. Are you okay? Did Boyd kill you? Who is Cora, by the way? Tell me what happened. Is everyone all right?"_

"Stiles," Olivia interrupted; as much as she thought his rambling was cute, now wasn't really the time to indulge him. "We're all okay. Boyd and Cora got out but Derek, Isaac, and Scott are out looking for them now."

"_Okay, good_," Stiles sighed in relief. "_So, who's Cora?"_

"She's my cousin, Derek's little sister—"

_"Derek has a little sister?"_

"Yes and we thought she died in the fire—"

_"You thought she was dead? How the fuck is she here now?"_

"We have no idea, Stiles. All we know is that she's alive and she's been with Boyd for months," Olivia answered. "but that's not why I called you."

_"What's up?"_

"I need you to check on Lydia. Something happened and I heard her scream—"

_"How did you hear her scream? Is she with you?"_

"No, she's not," if he didn't quit interrupting her... "Look, she's at the community pool. Can you please go check on her?"

"_Of course I will. I'll go right now,"_ Stiles confirmed. "_I love you, be safe."_

"Love you, too," Olivia stated. "Call me when you get to her."

_"I will. Bye."_

Olivia ended the call and turned to Derek once again. He was looking back at her with a half-irritated, half-amused look. Clearly, he had heard the whole call.

He shook his head. "I can't believe you're dating him."

The tires of the jeep squealed as it came to an abrupt stop next to Lydia's car. Stiles quickly ripped off his seatbelt and threw himself out of the vehicle in order to get to Lydia. From the way Olivia's voice trembled when she spoke about her cousin, and the fact that Lydia had called him in a panic over finding a dead body at the pool, he was quick to panic.

Not only did Stiles have to get through Olivia's occasional episodes but now Lydia was having them too. The Martin girls would be the death of him, surely. Actually, the whole supernatural thing would be. He didn't have a doubt about it.

"Lydia?" he called her name as he ran past the pool's gate and made his way toward the redhead. "Lydia, are you okay?"

Lydia had her arms around her, tightly holding herself. "I'm okay," she trembled. "That over there...not okay."

He followed her gaze to the dead body in the lifeguard stand. He could already see without moving that there was a lot of blood; it made him sick to his stomach. "Yeah, all right," he pulled his phone from his jeans. "I'm gonna call my dad."

"I already called 9-1-1."

Stiles paused and looked back at her while blinking rapidly. "You called the police before you called me or Olivia?"

"I'm supposed to call you guys first when I find a dead body?"

"Yes!" Stiles exclaimed loudly.

He changed gears, calling Olivia like she told him to. She quickly answered the call. "Hey, Livvy—"

_"Is there really a dead body?"_

"Yes, there is."

_"Are you sure?"_

Stiles rolled his eyes as he inched closer to the body so he could check it out for himself. "Yep, throat ripped out, blood everywhere. It's like the fucking _Shining_ over here. If two little twin girls come out of the woods and start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised."

_"Okay, okay_," Olivia said quickly; she absolutely did not like the _Shining_ when Stiles showed it to her. "_Um, can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?"_

"Make sure it was them?" he repeated in disbelief. "Olivia, who else is going around ripping throats out?"

She sighed. "_Please just do it."_

Stiles stepped closer to the dead body, stepping around the huge puddle of blood that had collected on the edge of the pool. Like he told Olivia, the guy's throat was ripped out. He bled a lot; his whole arm down to his purity ring wearing fingers.

"It was them," he confirmed for her. "Listen, Lydia called the cops so I'll call you when we're done with them."

"Okay," on the other side of town, Olivia pressed some fingers to her temple, trying to rid herself of the horrible pain her head was in. "Thank you, Stiles. Really."

_"No problem. Love you, talk later."_

"Love you," Olivia locked her phone and slipped it into her jacket before turning to Derek, Isaac, and Scott.

Derek shook his head in denial. "This doesn't make any sense," he declared. "The public pool is all the way on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there."

"Derek, they killed someone," Scott pointed out needlessly.

"How are they moving so fast?"

"Derek."

"But they can't be that fast on foot," Derek insisted.

"They killed someone," Scott said firmly. "Some totally innocent kid is dead...and it's our fault."

Derek was quiet for a moment, blinking slowly. "It's my fault."

"We need help," Olivia interjected. The four of them weren't getting anything done when it came to Cora and Boyd. They had no experience hunting werewolves and why should they? They didn't hunt their own kind. That was a whole new kind of barbaric. They weren't the Argents, for crying out loud.

The Argents...

"We have Isaac now."

"No, more help," she clarified, a plan forming in her head. "Look, they're too fast, too strong, and too rabid for you guys."

"We'll catch them."

"What happens if we do?" Isaac asked his alpha in response. "We're just gonna hold them down until the sun comes up."

Derek shook his head grimly. "Maybe it would be easier just to kill them."

Olivia immediately went to protest but Scott beat her to the punch. "Killing them isn't the right thing to do."

"What if it's the only thing to do?" Isaac replied. "If we can't even catch them, what else do we do?"

"We find someone who knows what they're doing."

They turned to Olivia, curious. "Who?"

"Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves," Olivia said decidedly. "Like Mr. Argent."

Derek scoffed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not. Mr. Argent isn't as bad as the others and we all know it," she defended Allison's father. It was true; Argent was probably the mildest of the Argent hunters, including Allison. "If he knows the trouble we're facing and about the innocent people getting hurt, I bet he'll help us."

"She's got a point," Scott backed her up. "Me and Olivia can talk to him."

"And if he says no?"

"Then we make him say yes."

With a call to Allison, they tracked down Mr. Argent to the grocery store. Derek and Isaac stayed in the former's car and let Olivia and Scott take the lead on him. Mr. Argent wasn't a big fan of Scott and he didn't adore Olivia, but he was more tolerant of them than the other werewolves.

Olivia and Scott waited for him to come out of the store behind the car next to Argent's SUV. When he came out, his arms full of grocery bags, they came out of hiding and watched as one of his bags fell to the ground.

Argent picked it up with a sigh. "It had to be the one with the eggs..."

Once the bag was safely in the back of his SUV, he shut the hatch and abruptly turned around. Olivia flinched away as he held a gun up to her and Scott, both of them immediately putting their hands in the air to show that they didn't mean any harm.

"Hi, Mr. Argent," she squeaked.

Mr. Argent pressed his lips together. "Olivia, Scott," he greeted them cautiously. "What are you doing here?"

"We need your help," Scott said before he started explaining all that had gone on that night so far, from the alpha pack, the bank, and the wild goose chase that Cora and Boyd were giving them.

Argent didn't look happy to be approached. "First of all, why would I care about anyone related to Derek?"

"Ouch," Olivia mumbled under his breath but Argent steamrolled on.

"And second, I don't know this kid, Boyd. I don't even know his last name."

"Boyd is his last name," Olivia informed him.

"What's his first name?"

"Vernon," she said simply. "and could you put the gun down, please? You're freaking me out."

Argent shifted the gun away from her and more toward Scott; Olivia sighed in relief.

"Yeah, just curious, is there a reason the gun is still pointed at me?" Scott was offended.

"Well, there's probably still some part of me that wants to shoot you," Argent answered honestly.

Scott raised his eyebrows and nodded. "I get that."

Argent sighed and lowered his gun, putting it back in its holster. "I watched my father brainwash my daughter and almost turn her into a killer," he shook his head. "That world—your world—decimated mine. My wife, sister, father, my entire family. Why would I ever step foot in it again?"

"Because people are going to die," Olivia said bluntly. "and because you know how to catch Cora and Boyd without killing them."

Argent hesitated for only a second before shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

He went to enter his SUV when Scott stopped him. "Uh, do you think you could do us, like, one tiny little favor?"

Argent lifted his chin. "What's that?"

"Can you give us a lift to the public pool? We're supposed to meet Stiles and Lydia there," Scott stretched the truth.

Olivia gave him an impressed look, immediately catching onto his plan. Argent would see the police and medical examiner at the pool to pick up the body and investigate the scene and hopefully it would sway him to help them catch Boyd and Cora. It was manipulative but necessary. Cora and Boyd could kill even more innocent people by the time the moon fell if they were able to go free.

"Get in."

Ten minutes later, they were pretty close to the community pool. The whole ride was silent and awkward and Olivia was nervous, hoping that Cora and Boyd weren't out terrorizing the town while they played carpool. If Argent would agree to help them, though, they'd have a significant advantage over them.

"Left or straight?" Argent asked.

"Left," Scott answered from the backseat. "Sorry, it's right about the corner."

Argent turned onto the street on their left and slowed down, looking for the pool. Olivia could already see the red and blue lights coming off the police cruisers.

"That parking lot there," Scott pointed to them. "Yeah, just a little further up, right here."

"Thanks again for the ride," Olivia said as Argent came to a stop and parked.

She and Scott watched Argent's face as he took in the scene. There was already an ambulance there, ready to take the body to the morgue, and it looked like the kid's parents were there, too, to identify their son for the record. It was a disturbing image, how heartbroken the parents were as they sobbed over their child.

It made Olivia's chest hurt a little. Erica's parents would soon find out that their child was dead, too.

Scott went to leave the vehicle first, but Argent stopped him. "They did this, Boyd and...?"

"Cora," Olivia supplied her cousin's name. "Yeah."

Argent lifted his gaze to look at her. "Where's the last place you saw them?"

Minutes later, they were meeting Derek and Isaac back at the campground, where they stopped Cora and Boyd from killing a girl their age.

Argent stood in front of the four of them, kneeling down over two sets of shoe tracks. "You're tracking them by print?"

It was Scott who answered him. "Trying to."

"Well, then, you've been wasting your time," Argent stated. "There's only one creature on earth that can visually track footprints and that's man. And if you're not trained like me, you have no idea that this print is Boyd's," he pointed at the large shoeprint in the mud and then the slightly smaller ones. "and these—"

"Are Cora's," Isaac assumed.

"Nope, they're yours," Argent corrected him casually. "You trampled Cora's as soon as you walked over here."

Olivia raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Isaac, who looked embarrassed.

"Listen, I know the three of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora, who have fully given in," Argent addressed Derek, Scott, and Isaac. "They put the pedal to the floor where you three are barely hitting the speed limit."

"So, what do we do?" Derek looked annoyed that he had to listen to Argent's advice.

"Focus on your sense of smell," Argent told him. "Actual wolves are known to track their pretty by up to a hundred miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to track them. If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles, which means we can draw them to us...or into a trap."

Argent reached into the duffle bag that he had brought with him and pulled out a net. "The full moon does give us one advantage," he threw it at Scott, who caught it easily. "They'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared."

Argent threw two infrared binoculars at Scott and Isaac before tossing one to Derek.

"Thanks," Derek handed them to Olivia and flashed his alpha-red eyes. "but I've got my own."

Argent nodded. "Just remember, we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed but it's there, reminding them how to mask their scent, how to cover their tracks, and how to survive."

They moved from the campsite to the cliff that overlooked all of Beacon Hills.

"When was the last time you saw your sister?" Argent asked Derek.

"Six years," Derek told him. "We thought she died in the fire."

Argent didn't comment on the fire. "Do you feel like you have a lock on her scent?" Derek shook his head so he turned to Scott. "Scott, how confident are you in your skills?"

Scott scoffed lightly. "Honestly, most of the time I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell."

Olivia wrinkled her nose in disgust. She certainly didn't envy him.

"All right," Argent turned back to the overlook. "The problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school, they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills."

"They're not going to kill anyone they see, are they?" Olivia spoke up hesitantly.

"No but there is an important difference to recognize," Argent answered her. "Wolves hunt or food; at a certain point, they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill, for some primal apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need gets satiated?"

"We can't kill them," Scott declared.

"What if we can't catch them?" Derek countered reluctantly.

"Then maybe we just need to contain them," Argent offered thoughtfully. "There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

Derek looked at him in surprise. "You want to trap them inside?"

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door, no windows, or access to the outside."

"What about the boiler room?" Isaac spoke up. "It's just one big steel door."

Argent paused for a moment before asking, "You're sure the school's empty?"

"It has to be," Scott confirmed. "There can't be anyone there this late, right?"

"All right," Olivia mused. "So if we do this, how are we going to lead them into the school?"

"I have something."

Argent led them back to his SUV, where he opened the hatch and pulled out another duffle bag with hunting supplies. He took a large silver stake that had some kind of light and button on the top and stabbed it into the ground.

"These are ultrasonic emitters. It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run," Argent pressed the button at the top; there was a light squealing noise as the light flickered on. "It gives off a high-pitched frequency that only they can hear."

There was a slightly uncomfortable feeling in Olivia's ear but she certainly wasn't reacting to the noise like Derek, Scott, and Isaac were. They were all bent forward, their hands smushed to their ears in attempt to block out the noise.

"God, no kidding!" Isaac grunted

Argent turned off the emitter and started grabbing more of them from the hatch. He gave two to each of the werewolves. To Olivia's surprise, he gave her two, too.

"These are gonna drive them to the school?" Derek asked skeptically.

"And then it's up to you to get them into the basement," Argent stated.

"Does anyone else want to rethink the plan where we just, uh, kill them?" Isaac wondered.

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. "All right, lazy bones."

"It's going to work," Scott said encouragingly. "It'll work."

"Uh, you didn't have to follow me home," Lydia told Stiles flatly as they walked into her bedroom.

Stiles shrugged awkwardly, looking around the room. Despite the many times he had come over to the house, he'd never been inside the redhead's bedroom. "I just wanted to make sure you got in okay."

"I had a police escort."

"I know the inner workings of that force, all right? They're not nearly as reliable as people think," Stiles defended himself. "And I wanted to wait for Olivia, okay?"

Lydia gave him a displeased look as she sat down at the end of her bed. "And you're in my room, why?"

"Because it's creepy for me to wait alone in Livvy's room," Stiles made up an excuse; the real reason he was in Lydia's room was because he wanted answers. Like, how she had ended up at the pool in the first place or the fact that she found a fucking dead body out of nowhere.

"You're lying," Lydia smacked her lips together and rolled her eyes. "Why don't you just ask me the question that you've been dying to ask?"

Stiles faltered. "Well, I'm not—I haven't been dying to ask anything. I—no questions here for Stiles. Nothing."

"I can see it on your face."

"Maybe my face just has, like, a naturally interrogatory expression."

"Well, your interrogatory expression is getting on my nerves," Lydia snapped. "The answer is that I have no clue how I ended up finding that body. I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car."

"Yeah, but the last time something like this happened..."

"I know," Lydia nodded. "Liv's dad."

"Peter," Stiles sighed; his future father-in-law was a pain in his ass. Well, he was a pain in everyone's ass. He went to say something else when his phone started ringing. "Oh, hold on."

He quickly pulled his phone out of his sweatshirt, eager to see if it was Olivia, but it was Melissa instead. He answered the phone and listened carefully as Melissa explained that he needed to show him something peculiar with the body that Lydia found.

After Lydia insisted that she go with him, the two of them headed into the hospital. They made their way to the emergency room where Melissa had a night shift and stopped at the desk where Melissa was waiting for them with some paperwork.

"Hey," she greeted them, leaving her paperwork for another time. "Over here...and if you tell anyone that I showed you this, I swear to God, I will kill you painfully and slowly."

She led off down the hallway that led to the morgue, sneaking into the room before anyone saw them.

"Why do you want to show us a body we've already seen?" Stiles asked her.

"Because you haven't seen everything," Melissa replied as she gloved up and walked over to one of the bodies displayed on the tables. She uncovered the guy that Lydia found at the pool and pointed to his neck. "See this around his neck?" there was a dark bruise that encircled the entire front of his neck. "That's a ligature mark. That means that he was strangled with something, like a cord or rope—"

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Ah, okay, wait a second," he interrupted her. "What kind of werewolf strangles someone? You know, that's not very werewolf-y."

Melissa looked at him proudly. "My thoughts exactly," she confirmed before picking up the kid's head and turning it slightly. "And then there's this."

Stiles' stomach flipped nauseously at the sight of the kid's broken skull and exposed brain. "God, what the hell is that?" he gagged slightly. "Is that brain matter? Yeah, it's brain matter, of course."

Lydia gave him an annoyed look. "Seriously, Stiles?"

He honestly didn't know how she was so calm.

"See the indentation? He was hit in the back of the head, hard enough to kill him," Melissa stated as she carefully set down the head back on the table. "In fact, any one of these things could have killed him. I mean, someone seriously wanted this poor kid dead."

"So, this couldn't have been Boyd or Cora," Lydia assumed thoughtfully. "They wouldn't have tried three different ways to kill someone when they're that out of control."

"Maybe it's just one murder," Stiles suggested. "I mean, maybe it's a random coincidence."

Melissa shook her head. "I don't think it was just one murder."

"How come?"

"Because that boy over there, he's got the exact same injuries," Melissa answered Stiles, pointing to the table to their right.

The three of them shuffled over to the other body. When Melissa uncovered it, Stiles felt Lydia stiffen next to him.

"The M.E. said this one wasn't just strangled," Melissa started talking so Stiles didn't get to look over at the redhead. "Whoever did it used a garrote, which is a stick that you put through a rope and you just kind of keep twisting and—"

Lydia whimpered lightly, cutting Melissa off. Both she and Stiles turned to Lydia and were shocked to see that she was in tears, staring down at the body in horror.

"Lydia, are you okay?" Melissa asked her worriedly; Lydia shook her head. "Oh, my God, did you know him? I'm so sorry, I didn't even think."

She carefully pulled the sheet back over the body.

"I was...I practically grew up with him," Lydia whispered. "Liv and I were at his birthday party the other night. His name is Heath."

Stiles awkwardly patted her back, trying to instill some sort of comfort in her. His own eyes started to sting as he looked back down at the blonde boy on the table. Olivia had told him some of the conversation she and Heath had at his party after he kissed her. He really wished that things didn't turn out this way. He wished that Heath was alive and that he'd be able to drop his asshole friends and feel better. Who made fun of something because they were a virgin anyway? Dicks.

"Okay, we need to call the sheriff because you're a witness," Melissa smiled sadly at Lydia.

_Wait, wait, wait..._Stiles thought quickly, his mind racing. The guy at the pool was a virgin, he had a purity ring. And Heath was a virgin, too. That couldn't be a coincidence, it was just too major of a detail. And if there were two bodies already, that meant that there was probably another coming.

"Has anyone else been through here tonight?" he asked Melissa urgently. "Any—any other bodies or even anybody missing?"

Lydia and Melissa were understandably confused by his sudden behavior and question.

"Uh, no, no bodies but um..." Melissa hesitated.

"What?"

"Two girls," Melissa told him. "They brought the first one, Caitlin, in for a tox screen and then I overheard that her girlfriend, Emily, just disappeared. I mean, they were out in the woods and—"

"Nobody's found her yet?" Stiles cut her off.

"I don't know."

"Okay, the first one—"

"Caitlin," Lydia supplied for him.

"Right," Stiles nodded at her before addressing Melissa again. "Is she here? Is she here right now?"

Melissa nodded. "I think so."

"Okay, where?" Stiles went to leave the room but Melissa quickly stepped in front of him.

"Okay, okay, wait. Just wait a minute."

"I have to talk to her," Stiles insisted impatiently.

"Why?"

"Because I think I know what's happening."

"We weren't doing anything that bad," Caitlin, who was laying in a hospital bed with a sad expression on her face, told Stiles. "I mean, I've camped out there plenty of times."

"Right," Stiles acknowledged calmly. "but why tonight?"

"We wanted to be alone for one night. Emily lives with her mom and I have three roommates," Caitlin scoffed lightly. "Not exactly romantic settings, you know?"

Stiles smiled lightly; he did know. Olivia's aunt was a meteorologist at the local news station, so she was only gone in the morning and early afternoon and Lydia seemed like she was always home, especially during the summer when she was bringing guys home after her dates. It made getting intimate difficult there, so most of the time they hung out at his house since his dad was out at odd hours depending on what shift he took.

"I can relate," Stiles said. "How long have you two been together?"

"Three months."

Stiles nodded in realization. "And you wanted to make it romantic."

Again, Stiles could relate to Caitlin. He had been putting off having sex with Olivia because he wanted to make their first time romantic. Olivia was a virgin and he...was not. He took that swan dive the summer before. It wasn't anything special but he loved Olivia and he wanted her first time to be different than his.

"Yeah, you know, because..."

"Because it was her first time," Stiles finished for her.

Caitlin's face crumpled as tears welled up in her eyes. She turned to him with a pleading expression. "They're gonna find her, right? Aren't they?"

"I hope so," Stiles smiled sadly at her, his heart sinking.

Both Olivia and Argent met up with Scott and Isaac at the school once they were done setting up the ultrasonic emitters. After Scott and Isaac broke into the school to make sure Boyd and Cora would have a way in, Scott joined them.

"Do you see that?" Argent caught Olivia and Scott's attention, his eyes focused on a firefly only a foot or so in front of them.

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The fireflies in California weren't bio-luminescent, which meant that they didn't light up. It was weird that now, all of a sudden, there were some in Beacon Hills, of all places.

"Yeah," Scott gave him a strange look. "it's a firefly."

"No, no, I know that but..."

"What?"

"It's, uh, very unusual," Argent mused.

"California fireflies aren't bio-luminescent," Olivia informed Scott. "They don't glow."

Scott looked back at the firefly. "Does that mean something?"

Before Argent could answer, a loud howl broke out into the night. They immediately went into action with Argent getting into his SUV and Olivia and Scott settling themselves by the parked school buses.

"They're with Isaac now," Scott informed her quietly as they waited for Boyd and Cora. "and now they're coming this way."

Scott got ready as Boyd and Cora appeared, bending his knees so that he could lunge at them at a second's notice. However, Argent's SUV appeared and he blared his horn, causing Boyd and Cora to turn away from their direction.

"They're heading toward Derek," Scott said needlessly, as Olivia could still see them. To their shock, instead of plowing toward Derek, they jumped onto the roof. "They're not going through the school. They're going over it."

Olivia, Scott, Argent, Isaac, and Derek quickly grouped together.

"The red doors," Argent said urgently. "someone has to get them open."

Derek nodded, volunteering for the task, and started running back into the school.

"Someone has to drive them inside," Olivia pointed out.

"I'll go," Argent volunteered.

"No," Isaac shook his head. "I'm faster."

As he took off with a door blocker, Argent turned to Scott and Olivia. "You two need to get in there and lead them to the basement."

Olivia and Scott ran into the school side-by-side.

"Does this mean I'm your Robin now?" Olivia asked breathlessly as they turned into the English hallway.

"Nah," Scott shook his head. "Come on, Derek's in the math hallway."

They continued running through the school. The closer they got to the math hallway, the more they could hear the growls coming from Boyd and Cora. It sounded like Derek was already fighting with them while he tried to lead them into the basement.

They rounded the corner into the math hallway just in time. When Derek threw Cora to her feet, Scott and Olivia came to a stop next to him when Boyd looked like was going to fight. Trapped, Boyd and Cora would have no choice but to head for the basement.

That didn't mean that they were going to go willingly.

"Come and get us," Derek dared them.

At once, all three of them opened to the door to the basement and ran down the stairs. They went through the door that separated the rest of the basement from the stairs and ran in, heading over to the boiler room, which took up most of the basement and housed supply rooms.

Olivia couldn't see in the pitch-black boiler room but Derek and Scott could. Olivia made sure to stay out of the way as they did something to prepare for Boyd and Cora's appearance. The two out-of-control werewolves entered not long after and a second later, two fire extinguishers were going off.

While Boyd and Cora screeched and grunted from the ice-cold foam being sprayed over them. Olivia quickly went for the steel door. Soon enough, Derek and Scott were coming out after her, allowing the door to be slammed shut and locked into place.

They stood still, with Derek leaning against the door, as Boyd and Cora pounded on it to try to get out.

"Did that actually just work?" Scott asked, shocked.

Derek nodded at them with a relieved expression on his face. "It worked," as he answered, Scott slowly stepped up to the door, concentrating. "What are you hearing?"

"Heartbeats."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Two of them?"

"Actually, there's three of them," Scott's eyes widened.

"Who else could possibly in there?" Olivia hissed at him.

"Maybe a teacher," he shrugged.

Derek shook his head and grabbed the lock, preparing to open the door and run inside.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked him.

"Ollie, you need to come in with me. You and I can keep them calm until the sun comes up," Derek told his cousin, who nodded, and then turned to Scott. "Close the door behind us and keep it shut."

Scott gaped at him like he was nuts. "If you guys go in there alone, you're either gonna kill them or they're gonna kill you. And, if you haven't noticed, Olivia's not exactly like us."

"Okay, well, that's obvious," Olivia sighed.

"She'll be fine," Derek insisted, slowly unlocking the door. "Come on."

As soon as he opened the door and slipped into the boiler room, Olivia quickly followed him. Scott did as Derek told him, slamming the door shut and locking it behind them. Olivia followed Derek all the way to the teacher supply room, where Boyd and Cora were waiting for a teacher to come out.

Derek roared at them and they roared back. Olivia stumbled back as they attacked Derek. He fought back, dodging attacks and making blows of his own. Eventually, he had a hold of both of them at the same time, letting them claw at him.

Seeing Derek being ripped apart like that killed Olivia. It was time to get to work; her gaze went purple as she stormed toward the three werewolves as she sent as much calming waves over to Boyd and Cora. She was trying to anchor them and make them come down from their impulses to kill Derek, or anyone, for that matter.

"Boyd, Cora, stop," she carefully placed a hand on each of their backs. "Control yourselves."

Boyd growled viciously and then so did Cora. If it wasn't for the hold Derek had on both of them, they would have turned and possibly rip Olivia into shreds.

_Control, control, control_, Olivia repeated in her head like a mantra. _You have control. Come on, come on, come on._

As if she wasn't already having a difficult time, the whispers started up, too.

_Derek, Derek, Derek_. Over and over again, her cousin's name was chanted. _Derek, Derek, Derek._

She had to do something.

Gathering all of her strength, a scream came out of her mouth. "BOYD! CORA!"

She was shocked at the scream because she hadn't even been trying to do that but it seemed to work. As if a switch was flicked, Cora and Boyd fell unconscious and dropped to the floor. Derek almost went down with them is it wasn't for the fact that Olivia quickly grabbed him and let him lean his weight on her.

He was very beaten up, with horrendous scratches littered all over his whole body. His torn olive-green shirt was mostly brown from the blood he shed. Luckily, despite the fact that he was completely exhausted, the wounds on his face were starting to heal.

A ray of light coming from the window caught Olivia's attention. "The sun came up," she whispered to Derek. "It's over."

Unable to hold Derek's weight anymore, she allowed him to carefully drop to his knees. She still supported his upper body, letting him lean against her, but thankfully, most of his weight was gone.

Scott and Isaac came running into the boiler room only seconds later.

"There's a teacher. I'll take care of her," Derek breathed heavily, still trying to catch his breath. "Get them out of here."

While Scott and Isaac rushed toward Boyd and Cora, carefully picking them up and carrying them out of the boiler room, Olivia asked Derek, "Are you sure? You can go with them and I'll talk to the teacher."

"It's fine," Derek insisted as she helped him to his feet. "You go get some sleep. You have school in a couple of hours."

"Okay," Olivia was hesitant to leave but she was tired, especially after getting Boyd and Cora to control themselves. Derek seemed pretty insistent anyway, so she wasn't going to argue with him. "Be careful."

"I will," he promised her.

Olivia made sure that Derek was steady before pulling away from him. Just as she stepped out of the boiler room, her phone started ringing. It was Stiles.

"Hello?" Olivia knew how exhausted she sounded.

"_Hey_," Stiles croaked from the other line. "_I need you to come to the hospital._"

"Why?" she stiffened nervously. "Is it Lydia? Is she okay? Are you okay?"

"_We're both fine, Livvy. We're okay_," Stiles assured her; she relaxed, relieved that they were safe. "_Just please meet me here and bring Scott."_

"Okay, I will. I'll see you soon."

"So, Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?"

Olivia heard Scott but she didn't pay much attention as she sat by Heath's body, trying to control her tears. It was too much death in twenty-four hours and she felt like she was going to suffocate from the grief weighing down her chest.

She knew Heath since she was practically born. Now he was gone and Olivia had been so negative about seeing him again. She hadn't wanted to go to that party but she did and she was glad. She was grateful that she got to see him one last time but it also hurt. She didn't know who did this to him but he already had a hard life. He didn't deserve this—no one deserved this.

"You're gonna wish they did," Stiles said solemnly, letting Olivia grip his hand tightly.

"Why?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but...The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? Eventually they're gonna find her," Stiles stated. "She's one of them. Emily, Heath, the guy that Lydia found at the pool. All three were virgins and they're all gonna have the same three injuries...strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in..."

Olivia sniffed and raised her head to look at him in disbelief. "The threefold death?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah."

"So, if these aren't random killings, then what are they?" Scott wondered.

"Sacrifices," Stiles dropped the bomb. "Human sacrifices."


	28. Deucalion and the Darach

**[3x04; Unleashed]**

"I looked everywhere. It's like he just walked away," Scott told Stiles. "He left his car and his dog."

As soon as Stiles and Scott walked into the boys' locker room to get ready for cross country practice—which was mandatory for lacrosse players, who needed to stay in shape during the fall—Scott had started to tell Stiles about the previous night at work. Apparently, a senior that was on the football team, Kyle, had come in with his little dog. After they left, Scott was taking out the trash when he heard the dog barking. Kyle was nowhere to be found.

Stiles nodded shakily as he slipped on his gray hoodie over his practice uniform. "Okay. Was he, like…could he have been a virgin maybe? Did he look like a virgin? Was he, you know virginal?"

"No, definitely not," Scott pulled on his own sweatshirt, a giddy smile on his face. "Deaton makes me have sex with all of his clients. It's a new policy."

Normally, Stiles would have laughed at Scott's joke because they were few and far between. This wasn't a normal situation, though. He might not be a virgin but the love of his life, his girlfriend, was. There were already three virgins dead, so if Kyle was a virgin, too, the rest of them in Beacon High were screwed—and not in a good way.

Scott sighed when he saw the blank look Stiles was giving him. "No, I don't know if he was a virgin," he told his best friend. "And why are you talking like he's already dead? He's just missing."

"Missing and presumed dead because he's probably a virgin, Scott," Stiles didn't know how much simpler his explanation could get. "You know who else is a virgin? My girlfriend, all right? Her lack of sexual experience is now literally a threat to her life. And you know who keeps putting sex off? Me because I'm an idiot who wants her first time to be special."

The locker a few down from them was slammed shut by Danny. He turned to face them, stating, "I know a guy who would—"

"Don't be a dick, Danny," Stiles stopped him before he could finish his statement.

No one was going to have sex with Olivia but him, thank you very much.

As Danny shrugged and walked off to talk to one of his friends on the team, Scott raised an eyebrow at Stiles. "Have you told Liv that, you know…you're not a—"

"No, I haven't," Stiles huffed, frustrated with himself. "And I'm a total hypocrite because I told her that we shouldn't lie to each other but I—I don't know how to bring it up."

"You don't have to tell her."

"Yeah," Stiles shook his head at Scott's suggestion. "I do."

"Mr. Lahey!" Coach called as Isaac scurried into the locker room fifteen minutes late. "Happy to have you back. Not happy that you're late."

"Sorry, Coach," Isaac mumbled as he went to his locker, only a few away from Stiles and Scott; they both nodded at him in greeting.

Coach shook his head and addressed the boys' team. "I'll remind you all, cross-country is not optional for lacrosse players. I don't need you turning into a bunch of fat-asses in the off-season," he paused as Isaac and Danny took off their shirts, both of them fit. "So work on that."

Five minutes later, Stiles, Scott, Isaac, and the other members of the team were lining up outside of the mini cross-country trail behind the school. Stiles and Scott settled at the back of the group and waited for Coach to blow his whistle, allowing them to start running.

Coach blew his whistle and everyone took off. "Pace yourselves! Come on!"

Stiles started jogging beside Scott but both of them stopped by Isaac, who hadn't started running and was still on one knee where he had been tying his shoe. Just as he was about to start sprinting, Scott grabbed his shoulder. "Isaac!"

Isaac turned to face them, an angry look on his face. "It's them."

Before Stiles could even ask who 'they' were, Isaac ripped himself away from Scott and took off.

"Isaac, wait!"

Stiles shrugged and started jogging, watching as Scott started running after Isaac. He settled into pace, grateful that he had always been a natural runner, and soon overtook some of his teammates. Soon, he fell in pace with one of his classmates.

Riley was trying cross-country out for some type of extra-curricular besides student government but she wasn't used to running a mile or more at a time. She was asthmatic, her inhaler clutched tightly in her hand, and she usually took an aerobics class every Saturday. Yes, she told him all of that while he ran beside her, voice breathless because of her light wheezing.

Eventually, she started slowing down.

"I need to take a break," she wheezed as she veered off the path, pressing her inhaler to her mouth.

Stiles didn't feel right just leaving her to work through her asthma attack—or rather, the start of one—so he stopped with her. It looked like her asthma was stronger than Scott's had been; her face was stark white as she stumbled toward a tree to sit against until she felt better.

Stiles followed her and stood still when he saw the body tied against the tree in front of them. Like the others, it looked as though the guy had been strangled, had his throat slit, and his head bashed in. Another three-fold death, another sacrifice.

Riley saw the body and only took a second to let out a high-pitched scream. Within minutes, the rest of the team was gathered around the body and the police were called. Stiles barely looked away from the body as Scott and Isaac ran up to his side.

Stiles looked away from the body to glance at Scott. "It's him, isn't it?"

Scott, who was looking at the body in horror, nodded slightly.

The body was Kyle, the guy who went missing from the animal clinic the night before.

"Hey, get out of the way. Get back," Noah burst through the teenagers forming a circle around Kyle's body, Deputy Tara right on his heels. He got to the tree where Stiles was hovering, trying to get a better look at Kyle's injuries, and turned back to Tara. "Get this area cordoned off before they trample every piece of evidence."

Deputy Tara immediately got to work. "Back up!" she raised her voice to get everyone's attention. "Everyone back!"

Noah gently pushed Stiles away from the body. "Get these kids out of here!"

Stiles slapped away his father's hand and stepped back toward the body. "Dad, look. It's the same as the others, you see?"

Noah looked at him firmly yet calmly. "Yeah, I see that. Do me a favor and go back to school, yeah?" he turned way to address Coach. "Coach, can you give us a hand here?"

"You heard the man," Coach called out to his students. "Nothing to see here. It's probably just some homeless kid."

Stiles stared at him in disbelief while Scott sighed, "Coach."

Coach turned to him. "Yeah?"

"He was a senior."

"Oh," Coach sighed sadly, holding his fish against his mouth. "He wasn't on the team, was he?"

Stiles rolled his eyes just as Kyle's girlfriend, Ashley, came sprinting up to the tree, already crying. She took one look at the body and screamed in grief, a heartbreaking look on her face as sobs broke through her chest. Deputy Tara grabbed her before she could get to Kyle's body and held her tightly as she broke down into hysterics.

Noah pushed against his chest, quietly urging him, Scott, and Isaac to get back to the school. The three of them walked away solemnly, all of them feeling bad for Kyle and Ashley.

"You see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac asked as they left the group surrounding Kyle's body.

Stiles remembered the look that the alpha twins had given the body and it seemed more like shock than anything else. "Yeah, you mean like they had no idea what happened?"

"No," Isaac said determinedly. "No, they knew."

"The kid was strangled with a garrote, all right?" Stiles spoke with exasperation. "Am I the only one recognizing the lack of 'werewolfitude' in these murders?"

As they came to stop only twenty or so feet away from the crime scene, Isaac faced Stiles with a look of disbelief. "Oh, you think it's a coincidence they turn up and then people start dying?"

"Well, no, but I still don't think it's them."

Both of them turned to Scott, who had been way too quiet for their tastes. "Scott?" Isaac grabbed his attention. "How about you?"

Stiles crossed his arms over his chest expectantly, waiting for Scott to be on his side, only for him to be disappointed.

"I don't know yet."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "You don't know yet?"

Scott shrugged and nodded toward Isaac. "Well, he's got a point. Seriously, dude, human sacrifices?"

Now Stiles knew what betrayal really felt like. How could Scott—his very best friend, his _brother_—agree with Isaac over him? His theory was so sound yet he choice to agree with Isaac, when he had only known him for what, six months? He and Stiles had been friends for a _decade_.

"Scott, your eyes turned into yellow glow sticks, okay?" he was more than a little huffy. "Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear, and if I were stab you right now, it would just magically heal but you're telling me that you're having trouble grasping human sacrifices?!"

"That's a good point, too," Scott sighed, looking at Isaac; Stiles nodded in satisfaction.

"I don't care," Isaac stated firmly. "They killed that kid, they killed the girl that saved me. I'm gonna kill them, too."

_**Ollie**__: How's Cora doing?_

_**Derek**__: She's still healing_

Olivia raised her eyebrows in surprise, only glancing away from her phone for a second to see if Mr. Harris had turned away from the board; he hadn't.

_**Ollie**__: She's actually staying still?_

Cora had always been an active child. When they were little, she couldn't count the amount of times Cora asked her to play tag, hide the flag, or go on runs. She had always exhausted Olivia, who wasn't the type to just run around for fun.

_**Derek**__: I didn't say that_

Olivia huffed silently in amusement and slid her phone back into her leather satchel to turn her attention back to Harris' lecture—of which she had already knew.

"All right," Mr. Harris finished writing on the board and turned to face the class. "since inertia is a subject of which you all know plenty, why don't we start with momentum?"

"Isaac," Scott whispered from behind her and Isaac, who was sitting next to her. For some reason, Stiles was mysteriously missing from his seat beside him. "they're here for a reason. Give me a chance to figure it out before you do anything, okay?"

Apparently the boys had quite the cross-country practice that morning. Stiles and some girl on his team had found a senior's dead body and from the quick explanation that Stiles gave her before he went running off, he had been killed by a three-fold death. Another sacrifice; she wasn't going to lie, it scared the shit out of her.

Olivia glanced at Isaac to see if he was going to agree with Scott but jumped when Mr. Harris got her attention.

"Olivia," she looked over at him to see that he was starting at her expectantly. "what do we know about momentum?"

"It's a product of mass and velocity," Olivia answered easily; this was her thing, after all. "The more massive something is, the faster it's going—"

"Mr. Harris," Isaac interrupted her in order to get the teacher's attention. "can I use the bathroom, please?"

Olivia gave him a half-irritated and half-curious look. Why did he need to go to the bathroom so urgently? She quickly figured it out; he wanted to go after the alpha twins.

Mr. Harris sighed and gestured toward the door. Isaac quickly got to his feet and walked out of the classroom.

Scott rose from his own seat. "I have to go to the bathroom too."

"One at a time," Mr. Harris reminded him of the school-wide rule. The rule was supposed to cut down on hook-ups and smoking or whatever it was that students did while skipping class but she didn't know if it actually worked. The only time she had skipped class was when Stiles was trying to teach Scott control.

"But I really have to go," Scott said urgently as Olivia grimaced, nervous about what Isaac was going to do. "Like, medical emergency have-to-go."

Mr. Harris stiffened and Olivia just knew that he was going to rant. She was right.

"Mr. McCall, if your bladder suddenly exploded and urine began to pour from every orifice, I would still respond with one at a time," despite Mr. Harris' irritation, he kept his voice calm. "Is that enough hyperbole for you or would you like me to come up with something more vivid?"

"No," Scott quickly sat in his seat. "That's pretty good."

All of a sudden, everyone in the classroom heard a huge bang come from the lockers on the other side of the wall. Mr. Harris made his way over to the door and the rest of the class followed him. Olivia and Scott stuck together as they pushed past their classmates in order to see what was going on.

Isaac stood in the middle of the hallway with one of the alpha twins at his feet, beaten up and bloody. Olivia's attention was immediately captured by the other twin, who was casually turning into another hallway; she quickly nudged Scott and nodded at him and his face lit up in realization. It was clear—to them, at least—that Isaac hadn't done anything to the twin at his feet. No, the alphas were trying to get Isaac into trouble.

And it worked.

"Isaac, what the hell did you do?" Mr. Harris asked him angrily. Before Isaac even had a chance to explain, he added, "You'll be seeing me at lunch detention."

They all went back to class and before long, they were at break. Olivia and Scott escorted Isaac out of the room, Olivia holding onto his arm tightly so that he wouldn't lose control.

"Don't let it bother you. It's just lunchtime detention," Scott said as they came to a stop by Isaac's locker. "If all they want right now is to piss you off, then don't give in. They're just trying to get to you."

Isaac paused, his eyes down the hallway. "It's not just me."

Olivia and Scott followed his gaze and saw that one of the twins—the one who hadn't got beaten up—was chatting up Lydia. They watched as he smiled flirtatiously at her until she closed her locker and leaned against it before playfully patting his chest.

Olivia pressed her lips together, displeased. Lydia was her own person and everything but Olivia didn't want her cousin fooling around with someone as dangerous as an alpha who could conjoin bodies with his brother and had a hand in killing Erica.

"Now they're getting to you," Isaac commented to Scott.

Olivia stormed away from Scott and Isaac and made her way down the hall to where Lydia and the alpha were still talking.

"Lydia," she took her cousin's attention away from the twin. "we need to talk."

"We were kind of in the middle of something," the alpha douche objected as Lydia nodded at her.

"Were you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Aiden, here, was offering to help me study," Lydia raised an eyebrow at Olivia, as if to say 'get a load of this guy'.

"Really?" Olivia looked back to Aiden. "You have an IQ higher than 170?" when Aiden faltered, she continued, "No? Didn't think so. Scram."

Aiden narrowed his eyes at her and even though he could rip her apart and it did kind of freak her out, she raised her chin, meeting his gaze head-on. She wasn't going to back down.

"I'll see you later, Aiden," Lydia dismissed him.

Aiden huffed and sent Olivia one last glare before walking away.

Lydia turned to Olivia once he had walked out of the hallway. "What was that about?"

"Lydia, he's one of the alphas," she told her cousin, watching as realization dawned on her face. "Yeah."

"The one that can conjoin…?"

"Yep."

"Shit," Lydia sighed in disappointment. "but he's so hot."

Olivia didn't agree but she and Lydia had always had different taste in guys.

"Sorry—"

Olivia instantly cut herself off as a tingling sensation started in her belly and a flash of Derek's loft came and went quickly as her head and ears started to ache from the intent voices spinning through her mind.

_Derek, Derek, Derek. He's in trouble. He's going to die. Derek, Derek, Derek. _

She gasped sharply as she came back to reality, noticing that Lydia was giving her a worried look.

"Liv, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah," Olivia answered distractedly. "I have to go to Derek's."

Lydia furrowed her eyebrows. "What? It's not even lunch yet."

"Yeah, I know," her vision was flashing between normal and purple; she had to get out of there. "I'll, uh, I'll see you later."

She turned away from Lydia and marched out of the school, ignoring the surprised looks that Scott and Isaac were giving her. She quickly got into her car and set to Derek's loft. He was in trouble and if she had to guess, it was the alpha pack who was responsible.

Stiles peered over the windowsill that allowed him to look into the main office. He could clearly see his dad and Deputy Tara asking Kyle's girlfriend, Ashley, if she knew anything that could help them investigate his death. He waited, trying to listen and gain as much information about Kyle's death as he could—the walls weren't good at keeping out voices, which was a concern for the school—and there were some things he found helpful.

But he still needed to know if Kyle was a virgin.

He waited until Tara had Ashley wait outside of the office while she conferred with Noah to go up to Ashley and speak to her.

"Um, hi, Ashley," he greeted her hesitantly, reminding himself to have tact; she looked at him unsurely. "Can I talk to you for just one sec?"

After she nodded silently, he gently moved her so his dad nor Tara could hear what he was going to ask her. He was going to Hell for it, he didn't need to get into trouble with his dad, too.

"I just need to ask you something really quick and it's gonna sound really unbelievably insensitive, so I apologize in advance," he cringed and took a deep breath. "Um, was Kyle a virgin?"

Ashley jerked her head a little, surprised. "What?"

"Your boyfriend," Stiles said patiently. "was he a virgin or did you guys, you know, have sex—"

Stiles was cut off by a harsh slap in the face. His head turned to the side, he blinked in shock while his left cheek stung from the force of Ashley's slap.

_Yeah, I deserved that_, he thought to himself.

He looked back at Ashley, about to serve her an apology, but she was being whisked away by Deputy Tara, who was giving him a look of disapproval. They were only a few feet away from him when Ashely turned back to him.

"No, he wasn't a virgin."

Her answer had his mind racing. There were only three virgin sacrifices then, which made everything all the more confusing. Then again, the number three did have a bunch of meanings, especially for ancient civilizations. Maybe that could be something to go on…

"Have you completely lost your mind?" his dad's voice brought him out of his head. Stiles took one look at his father's angry expression and bowed his head, scratching his nose unsurely. "I've got four murders, Stiles. You see those men in there? That's the FBI. They're pulling together a task force to help because it looks like we've got a full-blown serial killer on our hands. You get that?"

Stiles pressed his lips together, trying not to get angry in response. "Yes, Dad, I get that."

"Then _what_ are you doing?"

He hesitated for a moment. "I'm trying to find a pattern."

And right now, all he had were three virgins and Kyle to go on.

His dad wasn't pleased with his answer but he didn't yell at him again, either, so that was a plus. With another disappointed look—which Stiles was more than used to by now—Noah was on his way and Stiles had to get back to school. Thankfully, the juniors were on lunch break so he had time to visit Kyle's locker, where a memorial of sorts was set up for him.

Kyle's locker was covered in brown paper so that his friends and classmates could write messages to him and put up any pictures they might have had with him. He read through the messages, each one of them a memory of the person of Kyle. Though Stiles knew Kyle because he was an athlete and they went to the same school fundraisers and stuff but he hadn't known him very well. He seemed like a cool guy and the memories on his locker supported that.

Stiles stepped back from the locker as Boyd came over and clipped a blue card with the ROTC emblem on it to the brown paper.

"Hey, Boyd," Stiles nodded at him in surprise. "I didn't know you were back at school."

Olivia didn't tell him anything about it. She had said that Cora, her cousin who came back from the dead—which was really confusing, by the way—was still healing but nothing about Boyd.

"Yeah, I would have told you but we're not actually friends," Boyd stated.

_Ouch_.

"Oh, yeah," Stiles blinked awkwardly and hurried to move on. "Hey, so did you, uh—so did you know Kyle?"

"Yeah," Boyd nodded, looking back at Kyle's locker with a solemn look on his face. "we were in Junior ROTC together."

"So, you two were friends, then?"

"I only had one friend. She's dead too."

Boyd quickly walked off after that, leaving Stiles to look back at Kyle's locker unsurely. He took another minute to study it for any hints that might have led Kyle to his murder before turning to walk away.

While he walked through the hallways to his locker, he pulled out his phone to call Olivia. She didn't answer, even after three calls. It concerned him, because she should be at lunch just like he was and she usually looked through her phone while eating. She wouldn't just ignore his calls since they had made up and apologized to each other about the fight they had the week before.

He was about to call her a fourth time when he spotted Lydia at her locker, down the hall from his. He quickly made his way over to her, ignoring the annoyed look she shot him when he popped up next to her.

"Hey, have you heard from Olivia?" he asked her while shooting a few texts to his girlfriend.

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Hey, where are you?_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Why are you ignoring my calls?_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Are you okay?_

"She went to Derek's," Lydia told him as she grabbed her textbook for her next class. "She had an episode."

"She did?" he asked worriedly. "Did she say what was wrong?"

"Nope."

"And you didn't go after her?"

"Nope."

Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "Why not? You know she's all out of whack when she has her episodes. Aren't you a little worried about what was so wrong with Derek that she had an episode in the first place?"

Lydia shrugged, frowning slightly. "Scott didn't seem worried."

Stiles rolled his eyes and messaged Olivia again.

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Do you need me to come to Derek's?_

He was in the middle of an investigation but he would drop it for her, especially if she was in any danger.

His phone dinged:

_**Livvy**__: Everything's fine. Don't come here._

_All right, then_, Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

"Okay, I can't talk to Livvy about this but I can talk to you, right?" he addressed Lydia as she closed her locker.

Lydia sighed, like listening to him was the most boring thing she had ever had to do in her life. "I guess."

Stiles didn't pay attention to her attitude. He didn't have Olivia to bounce ideas off at the moment so the next best person who had the same amount of knowledge of him and Olivia was Lydia. She would have to deal with him.

"Okay, so did you know that there's a temple in Calcutta where they used to sacrifice a child every day? That's every day a dead baby, Lydia, every day!" he exclaimed as they walked out of the school and through campus to the building that held the cafeteria. "Hey, you want to know what today is? It's dead baby day. Oh no, wait, that's every day because every day is dead baby day, yay!"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Livvy's not here and Scott, Isaac, and Allison are dealing with the alpha twins," he answered diligently. "You know about them, right?"

"Yep, Ethan and Aiden," Lydia confirmed almost bitterly. "Liv shared the news this morning."

"Good, good," Stiles nodded and continued with his theory. "So look, here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that the murders maybe come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes, right?"

Lydia shrugged lightly.

"So, maybe first it's three virgins and then, I don't know, maybe it's three people who own little dogs."

Lydia stopped in her tracks—Stiles following her lead—and stared at him blankly. "We have a little dog." Stiles grimaced. "We're not getting rid of Sirius."

"Look, I love Siri as much as you and Livvy but if—"

"No," Lydia interrupted him sharply as they started walking again. "And by the way, you can't discern a pattern by a single data point, so stop trying."

Somehow, he knew that Olivia would have said the same thing.

"Okay, so what, I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die then?" Stiles asked, growing a little irritated. "I'm just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait for them to wither up and die right in front of me?"

Lydia paused again, giving him a strange look. "Wither?"

_Wither might have been the wrong word_, he admitted to himself.

"You know what I mean," he snapped and gestured wildly as he continued, "Die in just a hideously awful, strangulating, head-bashing, throat-cutting kind of way."

Lydia grimaced and looked away, making him feel bad because he knew that she had seen Heath's body the same way as he did.

"Maybe it's not your job," Lydia said after a few seconds. "They were strangled with a garrote and we both agreed that it was something a human would do, so…Maybe you should just leave the figuring out part to someone human."

"You mean someone like my dad?"

"No, I mean _your_ dad," Lydia emphasized, rolling her eyes as she began to walk away from him. "The sheriff!"

When Olivia received the warning that Derek was in trouble, she expected that _something_ was wrong and that it had to do with the alpha pack. What she didn't expect, however, was that the alpha pack—other than Ethan and Aiden—would be gathered in the loft and that the female alpha would have Derek pinned to his hands and knees on the floor, a metal pipe impaled through his stomach.

She had been taken aback by just how serious the situation was. Maybe she should have asked Scott and Isaac to come with her. Maybe she shouldn't have told Stiles that everything was okay.

All eyes went to her as she frantically pushed the metal door open and stepped into the loft. Other than the twins and the brief glimpses from Isaac's memories, she hadn't seen the other alphas that made up the alpha pack. There were three of them in Derek's loft; the female who was hovering over Derek, who looked like she could be feral and in need of a desperate pedicure to take care of her clawed toenails; a massive guy who was standing behind Cora to make sure she wouldn't move, his head bald and his muscles massive; and a guy who sat in front of Derek that she figured was Deucalion due to his seeking cane and dark glasses.

Her skin crawled from their attention; the female smirked viciously and the huge guy eyed her with cruel eyes.

"Ah, Olivia, right on time," Deucalion greeted her casually, causing her eyes to widen in fear.

"Ollie—" Derek grunted, unable to speak because the female alpha twisted the metal pipe in his stomach.

"Ollie, get out of here," Cora urged, glancing from her to Deucalion.

"Oh, no, she should stay, I insist," Deucalion stated. "Ennis…"

The big one, which was now known as Ennis, made his way toward her. Olivia didn't dare move, listening to the voices in her head that warned her that fleeing would be a bad choice. Ennis roughly took one of her arms and shoved the door closed with the other, before dragging her over to stand next to Cora, where he could watch over the both of them to make sure they wouldn't make any moves against him or his packmates.

Finally, Olivia found her voice, her eyes stinging as her eyes locked on her cousin's form. "You're killing him."

The female turned to her with a smirk and shook one of her clawed fingers at her. "Not yet, little Anchor, but I could," Olivia paled when she turned back to Derek and nudged and twisted the pipe. "Who knows if it's five minutes or five hours before it's too late to take this thing out. But, just to be on the safe side, Duke, you might want to get to the point."

"Now that Olivia's here, I can," Deucalion rubbed his hands together and addressed Derek, continuing their earlier conversation that Olivia wasn't privy to. "You see the problem with being in an alpha pack. Everybody wants to make the decisions. Me? I'm more about discovering new talents. Like your cousin over there," Olivia winced in fear and when Cora took her hand, she squeezed it tightly. "And you."

Derek coughed and blood splattered on the floor beneath him. "Not interested."

"But you haven't even heard my pitch."

"You want me to…" Derek was panting, in too much pain to speak quickly or all at once. "kill my own pack."

Olivia's eyes widened. _We're screwed_.

She had known that the alpha pack were after Derek as she had been privy to that knowledge since the beginning of summer but this situation was much, much worse than she thought. They wanted Derek to kill his pack—which sucked for her, Isaac, Boyd, and now Cora—and for some reason, they wanted her, too.

And all she could come up with for a reason for that was that she was an anchor.

"No, I want you to kill _one_ of them," Deucalion told Derek. "Do that and I won't have to ask you to kill the others. You'll do it on your own. I did it. Ennis did. Kali did," Olivia guessed that was the female and she was proved correct when Deucalion nodded at her. "Tell him what it's like, Kali, to kill one of your own."

Olivia and Cora shared a horrified look as Kali answered him, "Mm," she hummed. "liberating."

"Listen to me, Derek," Deucalion drawled in his British accent. "Do you really want to stay beholden to a couple of maladjusted teenagers bound to become a liability? And believe me, they _will_ become a liability. In fact, I have a feeling one of them is getting himself into trouble right now. Just ask dear Olivia."

For a moment, Olivia had no idea what he was talking about. Then, her gaze went purple and her mind flitted away from reality. The part of her brain—or soul, or whatever, that kept track of her pack—told her that Isaac was losing control. She didn't know why and she didn't know where, but she knew that he was having trouble.

"Isaac."

She didn't know that she had spoken her friend's name but Deucalion, Kali, and Ennis stared at her intently as she went through another episode, like the one that had led her to Derek's loft. Cora squeezed her hand, trying to get her attention—she hadn't seen Olivia like this yet—but it was no use.

Olivia's mind was split as she heard herself mentally call for Allison. She was in danger and Isaac…Isaac was with her—No, Isaac was the one who hurt her. He didn't mean it, but he was out of control for some reason.

_Isaac, Allison, Isaac, Allison…_

_Come on, Isaac, _she mentally pleaded to him. _You're in control. I'm here with you and you're in control._ _Just hang on. Come on, come on…_

Olivia came to when she felt a familiar voice rock its way through her head and Isaac took control of himself. Her wrist tingled from Allison's injury but she knew that her friend would be okay. So would Isaac.

"Fascinating," Deucalion said while she noticed that he, Kali, Ennis, and Cora were staring at her; she blinked and the purple in her vision went away. "See, the reason I'm always interested in new talent is simple," he stood up and folded his cane, his head still facing Olivia, though she knew he was addressing Derek again. "The stronger the individual parts, the greater the whole."

He unfolded his cane again, letting it snap back into place. "When I lost my sight, one of my betas assumed I wasn't fit for my role anymore. He tried to take it from me," he folded the cane again; Olivia guessed he was fiddling with it for symbolism, though she was pretty sure that her, Derek, and Cora could understand perfectly fine. "Killing him taught me something about alphas I didn't know they could do. His power was added to mine. I became stronger, faster, more powerful than I'd ever been."

Olivia shivered but tried to stomp her fear down. Although she knew that the alphas could probably smell it on her, she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of letting it show on her face of with her body language.

"I tested this new ability to subsume the power of your own by killing another one," he continued as he folded another part of his cane. "In fact, Derek, I killed them all," he folded the cane again. "I took the individual parts and became a greater individual whole."

Deucalion shook out his cane, making it snap together once again. He kneeled in front of Derek, who was getting weaker and weaker—Olivia was hearing more of his name than what Deucalion was saying at that point—and grabbed his head, pulling it up so he could feel Derek's facial features.

"You're right, Kali. He looks like his mother," he commented as he stood up again, slowly walking over to the table in front of the wall of windows. "You'll get to know me, Derek, like she did."

More blood dripped out of Derek's mouth as he spoke, "I know you. I know what you are," he grunted breathlessly. "You're a fanatic."

_And psycho_, Olivia added in her head.

Deucalion set his cane on the table and turned so he was facing Derek and the others again. "Know me?" he repeated slowly, his voice hard. "You've never seen anything like me."

Thunder started to rumble as he raised his voice. "I am the alphas of alphas," lightning flashed somewhere outside the building. "I am the apex of apex predators! I am death, destroyer of worlds! I AM THE DEMON WOLF!"

Olivia winced in pain and stepped backward with Cora, both of them hiding behind a pillar from the fear that Deucalion's words and alpha voice had stirred in them. Even though she wasn't a werewolf, her entire being told her that she needed to obey and cower from the alpha in front of them. His display of power and ambiance struck such a fear in her that she had never felt before.

She hid her face in Cora's shoulder and only looked up when the lightning and thunder stopped. Deucalion's glasses had cracked and when he took them off, his eyes were crimson red. His voice and demeanor had softened into a casual tone that only psychopaths could manage after such strong words he had given only a second before, "I hate when that happens."

Kali ripped the metal pipe from Derek's body and smirked when he started to fall to the floor, the puddle of his own blood soaking his skin and clothing. Ennis stepped away from behind Olivia and Cora and followed behind Kali as she grabbed Deucalion's arm and led him out of the loft.

When the metal door slid shut behind them, both Olivia and Cora rushed to Derek where he was laying on the floor. Tears stung Olivia's eyes as they coaxed him into a sitting a position, both of them sighing in relief when they saw that his wound was already healing.

Olivia glanced at the door once more; they were in deep trouble.

Having no idea what was going on across town in Derek's loft, Stiles had skipped class in order to speak to someone who he thought would know what was going on with all of the murders.

He parked in place outside of the animal clinic, glad that no one seemed to be there but Deaton, and entered the building. Deaton, dressed casually in a t-shirt and no coat—Stiles guessed he was at lunch—walked out behind the front to see how it was that had the dogs in the back barking like crazy.

Deaton gave him a surprised look. "You're out of school early."

"Yeah, free period, actually," Stiles lied. "Um, I was just headed home to see my dad. He's, uh—you know, I guess you probably heard people are kind of getting murdered again. It's his job to figure it out."

"I gathered as much from the sheriff title," Deaton stated sarcastically, though the tone kind of fell flat. It was a good thing that Stiles was fluent in sarcasm.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You know, but it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn't have all the information. And we all know he's missing pretty much half of the story here, right?

Yeah, um... You know, but it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn't have all the information. And we all know he's missing pretty much half the story here, right? So—so, then I started thinking and I remembered someone who does have a lot of information."

He saw Deaton shift uncomfortably and figured he was in the right place.

"Someone who always seems to know more than anyone else around here," he finished, giving the veterinarian a pointed look. "You."

Deaton pressed his lips together and nodded toward the back of the building where his exam room was. "Let's talk back here."

When Deaton opened the wooden gate to let him back, Stiles quickly walked through and shut it behind him, knowing that it was important to the man that the mountain ash barrier was always complete in order to protect him from wandering werewolves and the like.

"All these symbols and things, the triskeles, the bank logo, the mountain ash," he started speaking rapidly, hoping to get answers right away. "all of it is from the Celtic druids and anyone who has ever looked up human sacrifice before knows that the druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to giving one up to the gods. You ever hear of the Lindow Man?"

Deaton just stared at him and Stiles knew that the veterinarian was intelligent and probably knew of the story but he told the gist of it anyway.

"He was a two-thousand-year-old body found in England. He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut—a threefold death," Stiles stated firmly. "They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite druid plant that was?"

Deaton picked a jar out of the box on the steel table they were standing around and pulled a sprig from it to show to Stiles. "Mistletoe."

Stiles stared at the plant for a few seconds before he looked back up to Deaton's face. "I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I?" Deaton didn't say anything, which was an answer in of itself. "Then why aren't you telling us?"

Deaton put the jar of mistletoe back in the box and looked at him, ashamed. "Maybe because when you've spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away—denying it, lying about it—it becomes a pretty powerful habit."

Stiles softened only a little. "All right, so this guy—is he a druid?"

"No," Deaton shook his head. "It's someone copying a centuries-old practice of a people who should have known better. Do you know what the word _druid_ means in Gaelic?"

"No."

"It means _wise oak_," Deaton informed him. "The Celtic druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars. They weren't serial killers."

"Yeah, well this one is," Stiles scoffed lightly, only to pause when his phone vibrated in his jeans pocket. He answered it, seeing that it was Lydia who was calling. "Hey, I can't talk right now."

"_Well, Olivia isn't answering my calls, so you're my best bet_," Lydia rushed, her voice panicked. _"Look, I'm in the band room and the teacher is missing."_

"Wait, what?" Stiles blinked in shock. "He's missing."

"_That's what I said!"_

"Are you sure?"

"_Actually, I'm not sure he's missing_," Lydia corrected herself, exhaling deeply. "_I think he was taken. Like Heath and the Kyle guy were."_

Stiles pressed his lips together and looked over at Deaton, who was patiently waiting to hear about what was going on. "I'll be right there and I'm bringing Deaton with."

Twenty minutes later, after several calls to Olivia—who still wasn't answering, which was a whole other panic-inducing situation—and sneaking Deaton into the school without a visitor's pass, the two of them, plus Lydia, were searching through the band room to find anything that could tell them where the band teacher had gone. It wasn't a question of if he simply didn't make it to class, the bloody handprint on the piano gave them enough evidence to the contrary.

While Deaton listened to a recording on the teacher's phone, Stiles searched through his desk. The creepy voices coming from the speakers creeped Stiles the fuck out but he kept himself busy by going through the teacher's stuff.

"Can we get a copy of this?" Deaton asked Lydia, who stood by his side.

Lydia took the phone ands started to transfer the recording to herself so she could pass it onto Deaton.

Stiles opened the top drawer in the desk, finding nothing so far. "Hey, Doc, any held would be, you know, helpful."

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose, its own type of power," Deaton spoke thoughtfully. "Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors—"

A lightbulb went off in Stiles' head as he laid his eyes on the photograph on the teacher's desk. It was from his wedding, where he stood next to his gown-clad wife in his military uniform.

"Wait, wait, wait," he cut Deaton off as he picked up the picture, his mind still racing. "Warrior, could that also be like a soldier?"

Deaton nodded. "Absolutely."

Stiles showed him and Lydia the photo and added, "Kyle was in the ROTC with Boyd."

"That's got to be it. That's the pattern," Deaton declared. "Where's Boyd?"

Stiles grabbed his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time as he started to call Boyd. "He's probably home by now. I'm gonna try to get him on the phone."

He pressed the phone to his ear as Deaton looked over at Lydia, who was stiff and looking ahead of her thoughtfully. "Lydia, is something wrong?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, it was, uh," she grimaced. "I mean, I just thought of someone else with a military connection."

Stiles dropped his phone from his ear, ending the call before Boyd even answered. "Who?"

"Mr. Harris."

Stiles sighed in realization; why was their dick of a science teacher involved in every supernatural drama that ever came up in Beacon Hills? "He went to West Point. He has the honor code on his desk and everything."

Lydia bit her lip. "We should go see if he's in his classroom."

He wasn't. The classroom was empty by the time Stiles, Lydia, and Deaton entered, and Mr. Harris wasn't to be found. On his desk were many ungraded tests, though some of them had letters written in red at the top, and his briefcase was on the floor next to the desk.

Deaton looked around the room cautiously. "This is just one of many possibilities," he muttered as he came to the desk where he and Lydia were looking around. "He could have simply left for the day."

"Yeah, well, not without this," Stiles grabbed Harris' briefcase and held it up for Deaton to see.

As he set the briefcase back down, something caught his eye. One of the graded tests he had looked at before didn't hold an _A, B, C, D, or F_. At the top of the packet was a letter that he had never seen on graded homework before; it was a '_R'_.

"What?"

"This test is graded 'R,'" he showed Deaton and Lydia the packet.

Lydia pursed her lips and looked down at the tests, grabbing another one that was graded unusually. "This one's an 'H.'"

A bewildered expression passed over Deaton's face as he grabbed both of the tests from them. He set them on Harris' desk and rearranged some of the tests until the letter grades spelt out, '_DARACH'_.

"Stiles," his voice conveyed the worry on his face. "you remembered how I told you _druid_ is the Gaelic word for _wise oak_?"

"Yeah," what did that have to do with anything?

Deaton had his answer. "If a druid went down the wrong path, the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a _dark oak_," he looked over at him. "There's a Gaelic word for that as well. _Darach_."

Stiles grimaced; they were in deep trouble.

Olivia would probably be scrubbing Derek's blood from her nail beds for a week. It seemed like it was everywhere but in reality, it was isolated in the puddle in front of her where it had started to dry on the floorboards as she mopped and scrubbed it away. She wasn't one to get sick over blood but she still wasn't a big fan of it—especially when she had the job of cleaning it up.

Cora was upstairs with Derek, helping him clean and disinfect his wound before it healed up all the way so that left Olivia to do the work. Isaac, the little fucker, had refused to help her clean it up when he got home from school, and she would never forgive him. She had been on her knees the past hour or so after she finished mopping, trying to get the stain out of the floorboards. She was almost there.

"I think you missed a spot," Isaac called idly from his place on Derek's couch, his English textbook opened on his lap.

"Isaac, I swear, if you say another word…" her voice took on a warning tone that had Isaac smirking to himself.

Satisfied that he wouldn't say anything else, Olivia went back to the large, soapy sponge in her hands, wishing that the stain would just be gone already. She didn't want Derek to have to see it; her cousin was more than capable of protecting himself physically but she wanted to support him, even if she had to clean up his blood so he wouldn't have to do it himself.

She heard the metal door slide open and she only stiffened for a second before looking up and sighing in relief when she saw who it was. Stiles walked into the loft and rolled the door closed behind him before turning around to look at Isaac and then Olivia.

"What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"She's cleaning up Derek's blood," Isaac answered casually, turning the page of his book. "He had a little accident."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him and then looked back at Stiles. "The alpha pack made a surprise visit."

Stiles winced worriedly. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No, but Derek was," for the moment, Olivia gave up on the blood stain, throwing the sponge in the bucket of pink water and getting to her feet. "Kali decided that he needed a pipe through the stomach."

"Fuck, that had to hurt," Stiles made his way over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to her temple. "Why'd they come?"

"They want Derek for their pack," Olivia kept it simple for now; she could tell him all the details later.

Stiles, who usually had a hard time picking up silent signals that a person didn't want to talk, just nodded in understanding. Olivia was one of the people he could read the easiest—other than his dad and Scott—so he knew she didn't want to talk about it. Usually, he would have pushed her to tell him anything but for some reason, he knew that tonight wasn't the night.

Olivia looked away from Stiles' face when she noticed that Cora was descending from the spiral staircase. Her cousin was dressed in a black t-shirt now, rather than her workout clothes, and her hands were cleaned of her brother's blood.

"How is he?" she asked her.

"He's getting dressed," Cora answered, her eyes flitting toward Stiles before pointing at him. "I know you."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows as she looked between her cousin and her boyfriend. "How do you know Stiles?"

Stiles' eyes were lit up in recognition, as well as horror and embarrassment. "We met last summer," he told Olivia before looking at Cora accusingly. "You said your name was Cara."

Cora folded her arms over her chest, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah, well, I lied."

_Shit, I'm fucked_, Stiles cursed himself. _I'm so fucking fucked._

Olivia was still confused. "Wait, what?"

Stiles nor Cora got a chance to answer as Derek came downstairs, cleaned up and dressed warmly to combat the slightly chill air from the storm going on outside. Olivia, Stiles, Isaac, and Cora turned to him and waited for him to say something.

Derek's expression was somber as he addressed Isaac. "Isaac, I need you to leave."

Olivia shut her eyes tightly; somehow, she knew this was coming. She knew Derek better than she knew most people; it was unfortunate that he was doing this but he was trying to protect Isaac. She just hoped he wouldn't screw it up.

"When should I come back?" Isaac misunderstood his alpha's words, closing his textbook and standing to his feet.

"No, I need you to move out," Derek elaborated, a grimace on his face. "It's for your own safety."

Isaac gave him a curious look. "Did something happen?"

"It—the alpha pack—" Derek shook his head. "Look, it's not important. You didn't do anything wrong but I need you to go."

Isaac's blue eyes were wide as he looked between Derek, Cora, and Olivia. "Where am I supposed to go?"

Olivia's heart ached for him; the loft was Isaac's home. He had been with Derek since his father was killed by the kanima last spring and he had no other family to go to. She was going to offer him a room at her and Lydia's house but surprisingly, Stiles was the one to speak up.

"I don't have a guest room at my place but Scott does," he said, uncharacteristically kind—when it came to Isaac, anyway. "I'm sure Melissa won't mind."

Derek looked at Isaac and Olivia could see the sadness in his eyes; he truly cared for his betas and he hated the fact that he had to send one away from his home. "Is that okay for now?"

Isaac nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, it's fine."


	29. Not-So Magical School Bus

**[3x05; Frayed]**

Once again, the whistle rang throughout the bus and once again, Coach's voice accompanied it.

"Back to your seat!"

Stiles barely looked up from his iPad as one of his teammates went back to his seat at Coach's scolding. Instead, he clicked on the banner that popped up on his screen in order to read the message that Olivia sent him.

_**Livvy**__: Boyd's not doing anything, is he?_

Stiles looked over the top of the seat in front of him to the front of the bus where Boyd and Isaac sat together. The larger beta seemed to be calm at the moment but from how sullen Scott was acting, he doubted Boyd or Isaac were much better.

_**Sweetcheeks**__: No, he looks fine. You have a feeling?_

_**Livvy**__: Yeah, for Scott and Isaac too_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: What about Derek?_

_**Livvy**__: I just know he's not dead. Peter and Cora are checking things out, though_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: All right. Give me updates, k? Love you_

_**Livvy**__: Love you too 3_

Stiles sighed and closed his messaging app, clicking back onto the PSAT app that would help him practice anything that could come up on the test that he'd be taking in the middle of the spring semester. Right now, he and Scott were studying each other on vocabulary as they rode the bus toward their first cross country meet of the semester.

He had given Scott a word two minutes ago and he still didn't have an answer—he was distracted by Olivia, though, so he wasn't in a hurry.

"Scott," he called his best friend's name, snapping his fingers in front of Scott's sullen face. "Hey, Scotty, you still with me?"

Scott, who was leaning his head against the window—which had to be uncomfortable—straightened himself up and cleared his throat. "Yeah, sorry," he looked over at Stiles. "Uh, what's the word?"

"Anachronism."

"Something that exists out of its normal time," Scott answered dutifully.

Stiles' eyes flickered back to his iPad, seeking the definition. "Nice," he hissed with a nod of approval. "Okay, next word…incongruous."

"Um, can you use it in a sentence?"

"Yes, yes I can," Stiles confirmed, a slight edge appearing in his voice. "It's completely incongruous that we're sitting on a bus right now, on our way to some stupid cross country meet after what just happened. Incongruous."

"Out of place, ridiculous, absurd," Scott gave him a pointed look.

Stiles gave him a thumbs up. "Perfect," he wasn't going to stop trying to get Scott to talk about anything. "Okay, next word…uh, Darach. Darach, it's a noun," at the annoyed look Scott was giving him, he defended himself. "We have to talk about it sometime, okay? And we're gonna be stuck in this fucking bus for, like, five hours so why not?"

Scott's answer and tired expression was answer enough.

He went on to the next word. "Okay, next word," he cleared his throat in annoyance. "Intransigent."

"Stubborn, obstinate," Scott said slowly.

The bus went over a rough bump, jostling them. Scott grunted in pain and grabbed his side where he had been injured the night before.

"Oh, buddy, are you all right?" Stiles asked worriedly; Scott winced and gently laid his head back on the window. "We shouldn't have come. I knew it. We shouldn't have come."

"We had to," Scott disagreed. "There's safety in numbers."

"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre," Stiles swiped onto the next word, only to find that 'massacre' was waiting for him. "or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery…wow, that's—" he swiped onto the next word as the bus rode over something again and Scott let out a pained noise. "All right, Scott, I'm telling Coach that—"

Stiles had stood up to walk the aisle up to where Coach was sitting but Scott grabbed his arm and stopped him. "No, no, no," he cut him off. "I'm all right."

Stiles sat back down and gave him a worried look. "Well, you don't look all right," he leaned forward toward him, trying to grab his shirt to look at his wound; Scott slapped his hands away. "Would you just let me see it?"

"I'm okay."

"Just let me see it," Stiles said firmly yet convincingly.

Scott gave in with a sigh. "Okay."

Scott slowly lifted his gray t-shirt and showed Stiles the wound he received the night before. Three claws marks were deeply carved into his right side, uncleaned and still bleeding. It wasn't healed, which concerned Stiles. He should have been healed and okay by now.

"Dude…"

Scott put his shirt back down. "I know it's bad but it's because they're from an alpha," he excused his wound. "It'll take longer to heal."

Stiles didn't believe him for a second. "How come Boyd and Isaac are fine then?"

Scott didn't answer; he closed his eyes and whispered, "I can't believe Derek's dead."

"Scott, Derek's not dead," he reminded him softly. "Olivia told you that."

"I saw him fall," Scott wouldn't believe Olivia like the rest of them did, which was a little frustrating. "He's dead."

Stiles sighed under his breath and went back to his messaging app.

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Scott still thinks Derek's dead_

_**Livvy**__: Ugh, is his wound looking any better_

_**Sweetcheeks**__: Worse_

_**Livvy**__: If he doesn't heal soon it's going to be a problem_

Three vehicles behind the bus that held the cross-country team, Olivia sat in the backseat of Allison's car. She finished up texting Stiles and tossed her phone on the seat beside her, trying to not let her worry for Scott encompass her whole being. It was bad enough that she already had Derek to worry about—his name hadn't left her mind at all since the last she saw him in the abandoned mall but she could feel that he was still alive, just heavily injured—and now she had to deal with Scott, too. She didn't hear his name yet but she knew that his wound wasn't getting any better and she would soon hear his name if it didn't heal.

Scott had done a lot of frustrating things since morning dawned—he insisted that he, Stiles, Isaac, and Boyd should go on the cross country trip so they could get away from the alpha pack for safety and he wouldn't let anyone clean or bandage his wound—but the most frustrating thing was his denial that Derek was alive. Yes, her cousin had fallen to what they thought would be his death but she didn't feel him die. She felt the danger he was in and his injury, but he wasn't dead yet—which was why Cora and Peter were on the lookout for him. She didn't understand why Scott wouldn't believe her when she said her cousin was alive.

Maybe he didn't want to get his hopes up but Olivia didn't understand that logic. Sometimes hope was all a person had in these kinds of situations.

"Am I getting too close?" Allison spoke up anxiously. "I'm getting way too close, aren't I?"

"That depends," Lydia replied dryly. "Are you just following the bus or are you planning on mounting it at some point?"

Allison winced. "Yeah, I should back off."

"Ignore her, Al, there's two people in front of us," Olivia leaned forward in her seat so it was easier to converse with them. She didn't bother telling the girls that Stiles knew that they were behind the bus. "And, by the way, do you mean you should back off the bus or Scott?"

"You know, the ex-boyfriend you're currently stalking?" Lydia added with a mischievous grin.

Olivia nudged her in the side with her elbow.

"Well, after what happened, I'm not letting him out of my sight," Allison defended herself; Lydia hummed as she and Olivia exchanged knowing looks. "And by the way, this all started when he came knocking at my door."

"He was telling you not to get involved with the alpha pack and I agree with him," Olivia shared her opinion. "Al, Deucalion and the others scare the fuck out of me. I mean, you were there last night."

"Yeah, and I saved the day," Allison countered.

"I didn't say you didn't," Olivia acknowledged, tapping the older brunette's shoulder. "but still, Scott doesn't want you to get hurt and I think it's nice."

"You could have a boyfriend that hates your guts," Lydia added idly. "It's sweet that he's looking out for you."

Allison shifted uncomfortably in her seat; Olivia noticed and leaned back in hers, dropping the subject.

_The metal door squealed open just before Scott came running into the loft; all eyes, including Olivia's, were on him as he proclaimed, "I know where they are."_

_He was talking about the alpha pack and their current location. Olivia and the others already knew where they lived thanks to Boyd and Cora, and it had sent her into a panic. She loved Allison and having the alpha pack only floors above her made her skin itch. The Argents were hunters and she sincerely doubted that the alpha pack had chosen the penthouse in their building out of coincidence. _

"_Same building as the Argents, we know," Derek confirmed as he looked up from the table they surrounded, blueprints of the Argents' apartment building laid flat in front of them. _

"_Cora and I followed the twins," Boyd informed Scott as he settled into the space at the table between him and Cora. _

"_Then they want you to know."_

"_Or, more likely, they don't care," Peter stated from Derek's other side. _

_Scott looked down at the blueprints on the table. "What is this?"_

"_Isn't it obvious?" Peter looked at him pointedly. "The schemers are scheming, coming up with a coup de man, better known as a pre-emptive strike."_

_Scott looked at Derek in disbelief. "You're going after them?"_

"_Tomorrow," Derek confirmed. "And you're gonna help us."_

_Scott looked unsettled as he asked, "What's your plan?"_

"_We're going after them. They live one floor above them in the penthouse," Derek told him simply. "Right above Allison."_

"_So kill them first?" Scott raised his eyebrows; he didn't seem impressed. Olivia winced, wishing that they had a better plan. "that's the plan?"_

"_They won't even see it coming," Boyd told him. _

_Olivia and Isaac, who was on her left and the only one to agree with her that the plan wasn't very good, gave each other knowing looks. They had already expressed their unease but Boyd, Cora, and Derek disagreed with them. _

_Scott sighed. "Why is the default plan always murder? Just once, can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?"_

_See, that was where Olivia disagreed with Scott. Yes, she disagreed with the plan—she believed that they needed something far more thought out then going to an apartment building where humans lived—but that didn't mean that the alpha pack didn't need to die. They were coming after Derek, wanting him to kill his pack, and for some reason, they wanted her to. She didn't think that they would stop coming after her cousin just because he said no to them. They didn't seem the type. _

_So, it was kill or be killed. _

"_You never get tired of being so blandly moral, do you?" it was clear that Peter was annoyed with Scott's statement. "Not that I disagree with him."_

"_I do," Cora gave Scott a look of disgust. "Why do we need this kid?"_

"_Cora, Scott helped save your life," Olivia sighed, pressing two fingers to her temple. _

_Derek gave his sister a pointed look before addressing Scott, "You know we can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move."_

_Scott shook his head. "You can't beat a pack of alphas."_

"_That's why we're going after Deucalion," Cora told Scott. "Just him."_

_Boyd nodded. "Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies."_

"_Only this isn't a snake, it's a hydra," Peter interjected. "And like Scott said, they're all alphas."_

"_Deucalion's still the leader," Derek said firmly. _

"_Let's hope so," Peter muttered. "Because you know what happened when Hercules cut off one of the heads of the hydra?"_

"_Two more grew back in its place," Olivia supplied absentmindedly. _

_Peter grinned at her. "That's right, pumpkin."_

The whistle pierced Stiles ears once again, making him let out an aggravated sigh. Coach was in the middle of the bus now, so the noise was much worse than before. As always, it was accompanied by Coach's yelling, which was previously on two kids who weren't in their seats and was now directed toward Jared Stevens, who had a reputation of being car sick.

"Jared, again, car sick?" Coach glared at him in annoyance; Jared moaned in response. "Every time—how do you even get on the bus?"

Jared grunted.

"Look at me," Coach demanded and then faltered. "No, don't look at me. Look—look at the horizon. Keep your eyes—keep your eyes on the horizon."

Coach's attention left Jared and focused on the back of the bus where Stiles and Scott were seated. Once he saw the pained expression on Scott's face, he yelled, "McCall, not you too!"

Scott swallowed back a gasp of pain as he straightened in his seat and called, "No, Coach, I'm good."

Coach took his promise as a sign of good health and turned his attention elsewhere.

Stiles pressed his lips together and looked over at Scott, grimacing when he saw that he had started to bleed through his t-shirt. "Hey, Scott, you're bleeding again and don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that still bleeding means not healing, like, at all."

Scott didn't respond and when Stiles looked at him, he saw that he was staring ahead where Ethan was sitting next to Danny.

"He's listening."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the lonesome twin. "Is he gonna do something?"

"Not in front of this many people."

Stiles nodded as his eyes drifted a couple seats ahead of Ethan, where Boyd and Isaac were sitting. Boyd was sitting tall and alert, glancing back at the alpha every couple of seconds. "Okay, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?"

"No, they won't," Scott looked at Boyd and Isaac too. "Not here."

"Well, what if they do?" Stiles countered. "Are you gonna stop them?"

Scott looked over to him, serious. "If I have to."

"_So," Olivia turned to Stiles as he entered her bedroom after dropping Isaac off at Scott's house. "Will you tell me how you know Cora?"_

"_I don't think you really want me to," Stiles laughed nervously as he kicked off his shoes and socks (Olivia didn't allow them on her bed, which meant he had to discard them each time he came to her house). He casually laid himself on the right side of the bed—really, it was his side since Olivia preferred the left—and grinned when Sirius jumped onto the bed in order to lay his head on his stomach. _

_Olivia discarded the necklace from her neck and set it back in its place within her jewelry tower before looking at him with raised eyebrows. "I do want to know," she insisted. "Why is it such a big deal to you? Is it bad?"_

_Stiles grimaced and patted Sirius' head between his big ears. "That kinda depends."_

"_On?"_

"_On whether it's a big deal to you."_

_Now Olivia was intrigued. He watched as she slipped off her cardigan, setting it carefully in her laundry basket, and wandered over to the bed. She stopped right in front of where he was laying and ran her fingers through his messy hair, scratching his scalp lightly; Stiles sighed at the relaxing sensation, leaning his head forward to rest on her stomach. _

"_Just tell me."_

"_All right," he sighed, not as relaxed as before. "You remember when I told you that me and my dad went to San Francisco last summer for his conference and we made it a sort of vacation?" Olivia nodded. "Well, I went to a party at the beach one night and…ImetCoraandwesortofhadsex."_

_Despite his very quick confession, Olivia managed to understand every world. "You and Cora had sex?"_

_Her voice was calm, so Stiles ventured out of his hiding place. He lifted his head out of her stomach and gave her a cautious look. He knew that there was a war going on in her cobalt-blue eyes, he could see it. He just didn't know which side of the spectrum of emotions she was going to land on when it came to reacting to his confession. _

_Honestly, Olivia didn't know, either. She was angry, of course—Cora, who she had literally thought was dead, was alive and sexing it up with Stiles in San Francisco when she could have let Olivia, Laura, and Derek know that she was alive—and she was hurt—which made no sense because she and Stiles weren't even together that summer or the fall semester that led up to their friendship—and she was jealous. Stiles had been resisting their attempts at sex and here she was, with a cousin who had already experienced what sex was like with Stiles Stilinski._

_She was mature enough to not show upset she was because she really had no right; it wasn't like Stiles lied about it as she was pretty sure she knew he wasn't a virgin and how was he to know that Cora was Olivia's cousin—especially since he made it clear when Cora arrived in the loft that Cora had introduced herself to him as Cara. It just bothered her so much that Stiles and her cousin had sex and she didn't even know why, to the full extent. _

_When Stiles nodded, she nodded back at him hesitantly. "Oh."_

"_Oh," Stiles grimaced. "Are you mad? Please don't be mad, Livvy. I didn't know who she was and it was before we even spoke to each other and honestly, it wasn't the best. It was our first times, you know, so it wasn't much fun. Not that—uh, should I keep talking or…?"_

"_I'm not mad," Olivia told him and in time, she wouldn't be. The only reason she was angry was something that Stiles nor Cora could control and it would blow over soon. "Jealous, yes, but angry, no."_

_Stiles quirked an eyebrow at her, keeping cool so she wouldn't see the relief he was currently feeling. "Jealous?"_

_Olivia rolled her eyes at him and shooed Sirius off her bed; he happily skipped over to his bed. "Well, here you were, not wanting to have sex all this time—"_

"_Because I want our first time to be special!" Stiles exclaimed. _

"_And it turns out you had already given your goods out to my cousin," Olivia continued, her voice taking on a playful tone. "What am I gonna do with you, sweetcheeks?"_

"_Love me," Stiles grinned up at her as he sat up and grabbed her hips, pulling her onto his lap. "Do you want me to give you my goods, baby girl?"_

_Olivia grimaced slightly. "Not if you call me that. Never if you call me that."_

_Stiles rolled his eyes and placed a hot kiss against her jaw. "Baby."_

"_Nope."_

_Another kiss nearing her ear. _

"_Babe."_

_He flicked her earlobe with his tongue before pulling it into his mouth to suck on it. "Livvy."_

_Olivia sighed pleasurably as he left her ear and trailed his tongue down her neck. "Fine."_

"_Ollie."_

"_Hello?"_

"_Olivia, are you listening to me?"_

Olivia winced as she remembered that she was on the phone with Cora and now was not the time to remember the night after it was revealed that Stiles and Cora knew each other from somewhere. What had started out as a confession from Stiles led to him fingering her while she sat in his lap and stroked his cock—which, she realized, was a very weird way to end a conversation in which your boyfriend admitted that he lost his virginity to your cousin.

She couldn't believe that she had spaced out like that when Derek was in such danger.

"Sorry, Cora, I was distracted by a pretty rock," she grimaced at her lie and ignored the bewildered looks that Allison and Lydia gave her.

"_Sure_," by Cora's tone, Olivia could tell she didn't believe her. "_Anyway, I caught up with Peter and we went to the mall. Neither of their bodies were there."_

"Well, we know that Derek is still alive," Olivia said.

"_Right but now we have to find out where it was that Derek went,"_ Cora sighed. "_He's not at the loft and he's not at the house."_

"_Okay, try my pool house_," she remembered the time that she let Derek stay there when the police were after him. "_and maybe try the animal clinic_."

"_We will,"_ Cora confirmed. "_In the meantime, Peter says that you should try to get a hold of his location."_

"I'll try," Olivia promised. "Talk to you soon. Be careful."

"_You too_. _Bye_."

Once again, Olivia tossed her phone onto the seat beside her. She quickly told Allison and Lydia what Cora had told her, before she closed her eyes to try to find Derek's location.

It was hard to do anything because she was in a moving car that was steadily driving further and further away from Beacon Hills but she still tried her harder. She spent half an hour, trying to find her cousin's location but the closest she ever got was that he was still in Beacon Hills, which didn't really narrow down where he could be.

Finding her packmates was probably the ability that she had to try the hardest at. It wasn't as natural as sensing if one of them was in danger and while she still had trouble calming them down when they were out of control, at least she had made progress on that. Her mental radar—if she wanted to call it that—was harder to understand and use but with more practice, she hoped that she would get better at it.

"So," Lydia spoke up a half-hour after Olivia ended her call with Cora, her eyes flitting from the thermodynamics text she borrowed from Olivia to the gas gage on the dashboard. "is that whole not-let-them-out-of-your-sight thing literal or more like a general rule?"

Olivia gave her cousin a curious look as Allison asked, "Why?"

"You're running on fumes."

Allison took one look at the gas gage, which was hovering on empty, and groaned. "Shit."

"Yeah, and I'm _pretty_ sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota," the redhead added, not helping Allison's distress.

"What if we stop?" Olivia suggested.

Allison shook her head. "No."

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Lydia wondered, looking at Allison. "I mean, so we lose them. We know where they're headed."

Allison pressed her lips together and shook her head. "You didn't see what happened."

"I know who started it," Lydia hummed.

A flare of irritation sparked in Olivia's chest at Lydia's comment; she leaned forward in her seat to glare at her. "Is that what _Aiden_ told you?"

Lydia scoffed. "Aiden?" she looked to see if Olivia was serious; she was. "Woah, woah, woah, hold on a second. Is that why you two invited me on this whole little road trip thing?"

Olivia gave her a pointed look.

"Oh, my God, you're keeping an eye on them and me."

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't trust Aiden, who happens to be one of the alpha pack," Olivia defended herself. "And I know that you and Aiden have something going on—"

"We do not!" Lydia interjected with a gasp. "I'm appalled by the insinuation."

Olivia rolled her eyes while Allison gave her a look of disbelief. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"Liar," Olivia called her out, her anger somewhat dissipating. She had always had a hard time being angry with Lydia. It was that way when they were kids and Lydia wouldn't let her play with her make-up and it was that way now.

"I'm not lying," Lydia insisted as she pulled her lipstick out of her purse to apply a layer.

Olivia and Allison gave her knowing looks.

"What?"

Allison just shook her head and pressed on the brakes as the cars in front of them came to a stop. There had to be some kind of accident up ahead because the traffic on the highway was usually never bumper to bumper like it was then.

"Why'd we stop?" Lydia wondered.

"I don't know."

Just as Olivia had unlocked her phone to check the traffic patterns, a subtle alarm went off in her head warning her that Boyd was having trouble. It was almost as she could feel his control slipping away as her mind whispered to her.

She hurriedly pressed on Stiles' contact and sighed in relief when he answered, "_Hey_."

"Hi, I need you or Scott to check on Boyd," she said hurriedly. "He's losing control and I'm guessing that it has to do with Ethan."

Up ahead on the bus, Stiles nudged Scott, "Scott, it's Boyd, he's gonna do something."

Scott looked at him in alarm. "How do you know?"

Stiles gestured to his phone and Scott nodded. He carefully stood up, trying not to hurt his wound anymore, and pushed past Stiles and into the aisle.

"Livvy?" Stiles spoke into the phone once Scott was on his way to Boyd.

"_I'm here."_

"Scott's talking to him right now," he studied the situation ahead of him and sighed in relief when Boyd relaxed and Scott turned around to come back to his seat. "and I think everything's okay."

"_Yeah, he has control now_," she confirmed. "_I can feel it."_

"It's so cool that you know that," Stiles shook his head, amazed by his badass girlfriend. "Okay, gotta go, babe, love ya."

"_Stil—"_

He hung up before she could finish her protest about his pet name and smiled innocently at Scott, as though he didn't hear the conversation he was having with Olivia.

"Crisis averted?" he stood so Scott would have an easier time getting to his seat.

Scott nodded. "Mmhm."

"Okay, good, cause we have another problem," Stiles now focused on the problem he was keeping an eye on before Olivia called him about Boyd. His eyes found Ethan, who was checking his phone every five minutes. "Ethan keeps checking his phone, like, every five minutes. It's like he's waiting for something, you know, like a message or a signal of some kind—it's something evil, though, I can tell. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, but you know that."

Once Stiles mentioned Ethan and his phone-checking, he blocked out the rest of his best friend's rambling. "I don't like him sitting with Danny."

"Yeah, neither do I," Stiles agreed; he hurriedly grabbed his phone and went to his contacts to find Danny's. "I'm gonna see what he's waiting for?"

Scott looked at him curiously. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna ask."

_**Stiles Stilinski**__: Find out why Ethan keeps checking his phone_

Stiles watched Danny closely to see if he got his text; when Danny looked back at him, bewildered, his waved at him with an enthusiastic smile. Danny shook his head in response and Stiles frowned.

He quickly drafted another message.

_**Stiles Stilinski**__: Just do it!_

_**Danny**__: No._

_**Stiles Stilinski**__: ASK HIM._

When Danny looked back at him again, Stiles raised his hands and frantically gestured at Ethan.

Danny turned back around and he got a message soon after.

_**Danny**__: NO. I like this guy. What the hell is wrong with you?_

Stiles sighed in aggravation.

_**Stiles Stilinski**__: It's important. PLEASE._

Danny didn't respond and when he saw him put his phone back in his pocket, he growled under his breath. He went wild, just sending Danny emojis so that his phone would go off every second until he was so annoyed that he would have to ask Ethan what was going on just to get Stiles to stop sending him messages.

He must have sent fifty or sixty messages in a row. He actually stood up so he could get a better look at Danny and Ethan and only sat down when he saw that they were talking. And then, when Ethan turned around to look at them, he and Scott hurriedly ducked behind the seat as if Ethan hadn't already seen them.

"Well, that wasn't very subtle," Stiles muttered to Scott.

They sat up straight as Ethan turned back around. Only two minutes later, his phone beeped.

_**Danny**__: Someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night._

Stiles showed Scott the message; Scott looked at him in surprise. "Ennis?

Stiles nodded. "He's not dead yet."

While Stiles updated Olivia what was going on with Ethan, Ennis, and the rest of the alpha pack so she could pass it onto Cora and Peter, Coach had started up his rounds of the bus again to make sure everyone was keeping themselves out of trouble.

"Jared, I'm warning you, I'm an empathetic vomiter," the thing with Coach was that he didn't know how to speak quietly, which was unfortunate for everyone else on the bus. "You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you and it will be profoundly disgusting."

"Please don't talk about throwing up," Jared squeaked in response. "It's not good."

"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared," Coach replied before addressing the rest of the team. "Now, the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning…or Jared. We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us!"

Stiles raised his hand, hoping to get a word in.

"Stilinski, put your hand down."

Stiles decided it was worth a try. "You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up," he told Coach. "I don't know, if we stop and then maybe traffic—"

"We're not gonna stop," Coach cut him off.

"Okay, but if we stop—"

"Stilinski!" Coach shouted his name before blowing his whistle. "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"

Stiles leaned back in his seat, now fully irritated. "I hate him," he sighed and looked over at Scott and noticed that he was pretty much out of it. "Did you call Deaton?"

"I keep getting his voicemail," Scott answered sluggishly.

"That's it," Stiles snapped and picked up his phone to call Olivia. "I'm calling Livvy, Lydia, and Allison."

Scott blinked at him. "How are they gonna help? They're back in Beacon Hills."

"No, they're not," Stiles told him and turned in his seat to look out the back window, spotting Allison's Toyota only a few cars back. "They've been following us for hours."

Olivia answered immediately. "_What's going on?"_

"Can you put me on speakerphone?"

There was a little shuffling on her end as she adjusted the volume so Lydia and Allison could hear what he was saying. "_Okay, we can all hear you."_

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt."

"_What do you mean still?"_ Allison asked. "_He's not healing?"_

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse," he informed them. "The blood's turning, like a black color."

"_That's not good, Stiles_," Olivia said worriedly. "_That's bad. Like, really bad."_

"I know, I know. What are we supposed to do?"

"_We need to get him off the bus_," Allison answered him.

"_And take him where, a hospital?"_ Lydia spoke up.

"_If he's dying, yeah,"_ Allison confirmed. "_Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell Coach to pull over."_

Stiles rolled his eyes; he wished it was that simple. "Yeah, I've been trying."

"_Well, reason with him."_

"Reason with him?" he repeated with a scoff. "have you met this guy?"

"_Just try something."_

Stiles groaned and ended the call, forcing his phone into his jeans before he stood up to approach Coach. Coach, who had been talking to Jared once again, sighed when he saw Stiles come up to him.

"There's a rest stop a mile—"

"Don't even start, Stilinski," Coach cut him off before he could really begin.

"Coach, it's five minutes for a bathroom break, okay?" Stiles tried to reason with him like Allison suggested. "We've been on this thing for, like, three hours—"

Coach blew his whistle sharply.

Stiles inhaled deeply, trying to get his irritation under control, "It's sixty miles to the next rest stop—"

_Chirp_! Coach pulled his whistle away from his mouth to give Stiles a smug smile.

"Being cooped up for hours is not good—"

_Chirp!_

"You know, our bladders aren't exactly—"

_Chirp!_

"Coach, this is—" _chirp!_ "Can you—" _chirp!_ "Please—" _chirp!_ "Let me _talk_!" Coach chuckled in amusement. "Every time—"

_Chhhiiirrrppp!_

If he didn't get that fucking whistle out of his mouth, Stiles was going to take it and throw it out of the fucking window.

"Get back to your seat, Stilinski!"

"OKAY!" Stiles yelled back, losing his temper.

"And Jared, keep your eyes on the horizon," Coach added to the boy who sat in the seat next to Stiles' hip.

A plan forming in his head, he quickly sat next to him with an innocent expression. "Hey, Jared," he greeted him, a smirk stretching his lips. "How ya doing?"

The private family bathroom that Olivia and Lydia led Stiles, Scott, and Allison into wasn't that bad for a rest stop. It was relatively clean and it had a lock so they could have privacy and no one could wander in and see what was going on with Scott.

Stiles and Allison gently sat him down next to the sink and when Allison slowly lifted his stained t-shirt, they all gasped in shock. The wound was completely black and sticky with more black blood while the veins in his stomach were slowly turning black. Olivia knew what black blood meant and it wasn't anything good. If they couldn't get Scott to start healing, then he would die.

As it was, it didn't look like he had much life left in him.

"Oh, my God," Allison breathed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry," Scott breathed, looking back at her with dazed eyes.

"Okay, just give us a second," Allison lowered his shirt and straightened to her full height so she, Olivia, Stiles, and Lydia could confer. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"Okay, what do we do then?" Stiles asked her as Olivia kept her eyes on Scott, her mind racing. "Do we just call an ambulance?"

"What if it's too late?" Lydia interjected. "What if they can't help?"

"We gotta do something."

_Scott, Scott, Scott,_ his name was chanted over and over in Olivia's head. _He's almost lost, he's almost lost. Without Derek, he could be lost._

She hated when the voice in her head started on its riddles. She would have been more upset if she hadn't known what it was talking about. Scott was an empathetic person and he respected Derek and felt guilty for letting him fall onto that escalator the night before. For whatever reason, Scott didn't believe Olivia when she said that Derek was alive. Maybe he thought she was in denial but that wasn't the point. Scott thought Derek was dead and he thought that it was his fault.

"It could be psychological," she told the others.

Stiles gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? Like psychosomatic?"

"No, she means somatoformic," Lydia corrected him for Olivia.

"What?"

"It's a physical illness from a psychogenic cause," Olivia elaborated for him. "It's all in his head."

"In his head?"

She didn't have time to wonder how her boyfriend could be a genius but still be dumb about some things. "Because of Derek," she clarified. "He's not letting himself heal because he thinks that Derek's dead."

As Lydia rummaged through her purse, Allison asked, "So, what do we do?"

"Stitch him up," Lydia pulled out a miniature sewing kit from her bag and held it out so they could all see it. Olivia nodded in approval while Stiles and Allison gave her doubtful looks. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe he's healing."

"If it doesn't work, at least he's stitched up and he won't lose anymore blood," Olivia rationalized.

Allison sighed and took the sewing kit from Lydia. They set to work on making sure the area was as clean as it could get so that Scott wouldn't get an infection; Olivia and Stiles laid paper towels down around Scott, Lydia soaked some towels in water, and Allison sterilized the needle with the lighter she got from her bag.

"He's gonna need another shirt," Allison stated as she knelt in front of Scott. "Where's his bad?"

"Um, I'm gonna get it," Stiles volunteered quickly. "I hate needles anyway, so…uh, do you know what you're doing, though?"

"Yeah, my father taught me," Allison assured him.

"I mean, how fast are you gonna…I mean, the bus, like, the bus could leave—"

Olivia cut off her boyfriend's nervous rambling. "We'll make sure it doesn't leave," she grabbed Stiles hand and led him out of the bathroom. "Come on."

_Olivia hated the eerie feeling that the abandoned and destroyed mall was giving her. Even more, she hated that she was stationed alone on a platform high above where the action would be taking place. It was far away that none of the alphas could get her while trying to fight off Derek and the rest of their pack but not too far for her to try to use her abilities to subdue the alphas. She doubted she could affect them at all, but she would give it a shot. _

_She watched silently, her jacket and clothes covered in dust so that the alphas wouldn't catch her scent, as Kali escorted Deucalion to his perch on an escalator. Kali left him, presumably to join the others waiting in the shadows, and soon, Scott and Isaac walked in. _

"_You didn't come alone," Deucalion acknowledged Scott. _

"_Yeah, this is Isaac," Scott told him, gesturing to the blonde beta at his side. _

"_I'm not talking about Isaac," Deucalion stated vaguely. _

_Derek took that moment to slowly walk out next to Scott, his face transformed with his wolf features and his sharp claws out and ready. He slowly overtook the betas and stood a couple feet in front of them, as if to block them from Deucalion's gaze. _

_Scott gaped at him. "You know I would do this?" he didn't receive an answer. "Derek, don't. You can't do this so no one gets hurt."_

_Scott didn't get that someone was going to get hurt, anyway. Derek had already been nearly killed by Kali and Deucalion wanted him to kill his betas and maybe even her. This was a no win situation, no matter which way it went. _

"_If someone else dies—"_

"_Him," Derek pointed at Deucalion. "Just him."_

"_Just me?" Deucalion repeated. "Now, how's a blind man find his way into a place like this all on his own?"_

_As if on cue, Kali started sliding down a pillar, her nasty toe-claws digging into the concrete and making crumble to the dusty floor. Her crimson eyes glowed in the faint darkness and she growled threateningly, low in her throat. Out of a hallway under the platform where Olivia was situated, emerged Boyd and Cora but only feet away from them came Ethan and Aiden. From the escalator that came to the level were everyone was standing, Ennis walked forward, his presence large and looming threatening over the others. _

_Derek moved first, sprinting toward Deucalion but Kali was quick to step in, throwing him to the ground. The others moved after that; Scott and Isaac teamed up to take on the twins, who had merged as one, and Cora and Boyd tried to hold their own against Ennis. _

_Meanwhile, Olivia clenched her hands tightly and closed her eyes. In her mind, she pictured the platform under her where her packmates and the alpha pack fought and tried to make it like a map. She could feel where her packmates were so all she had to do was insert the alphas next to them and focus on them. She highlighted them in her mind and the same calming feeling—she didn't know if it was an aura or if it was manipulation, or whatever—that she used during the full moons strictly toward the alphas. _

_From what she was seeing from the alphas' figures, the easiest to break down was Ethan. He was kinder than the others and had more of a conscious that was easy to manipulate. Getting him to change back to his human form and separate from Aiden would be a great advantage. _

_It was easier said than done. Not only was she trying to manipulate Ethan but she could feel how her packmates were doing through their link and to say that things weren't looking good would be an understatement. Currently, Kali was pretty much beating Derek's ass and helping Ennis take down Boyd at the same time and Cora was somewhere, probably unconscious. _

_She wasn't able to get Ethan to transform back. It was all too quick; Kali had Cora pinned to the ground with her nasty foot on her neck, Ennis had Boyd vulnerable to any attack, and Ethan and Aiden had Scott and Isaac laid out in front of them. _

"_Kill him," Deucalion spoke to Derek, gesturing to where Boyd laid. "The others can go. Olivia can go too."_

_Olivia winced, cursing herself for being caught, and stood. They knew she was there anyway, there was no need to hide any longer. _

_Derek looked around at his pack, seeing that all of them except Olivia were caught and had no room to fight back. It was clear that he was trapped; he didn't know what to do. _

_So, Olivia closed her eyes and started with that mental map again, focusing on the alpha pack's weakest link. _

"_You're beaten," Deucalion continued on, though Olivia did her best to ignore him. "Do it, Derek. Take the first step."_

_Derek didn't move. _

"_Are we serious with this kid?" Kali sneered at Deucalion, eyeing Derek furiously. "Look at him. He's an alpha? To what, a couple of useless teenagers?"_

"_Some have more promise than others," Olivia didn't catch the way that Deucalion eyed her and Scott. _

"_Let him rise to the occasion then. What'll be, Derek? Pack," she tightened her stance on Cora's neck. "or family?"_

_Olivia gritted her teeth, a wave of power coming over her. "ETHAN!"_

_Her scream not only caused a distraction but Ethan and Aiden's conjoined form fell apart, leaving each twin to defend themselves. As if that wasn't enough, Allison sneaked up beside her and had her bow and arrows at the ready. _

_Olivia took one look at the flashbulb arrowheads on her arrows and grinned as Allison took her shot. The arrow hit and an intense light flooded the room, sending the alpha pack to their knees. The Hale pack and Scott were familiar with the arrows; they closed their eyes and took the opportunity to fight back. Isaac and Scott started fighting Ethan and Aiden individually. Derek and Cora took the advantage of Kali and Ennis being blown away by the arrow to gather Boyd and get him on his feet. _

_Once Ethan and Aiden were subdued to where Isaac could fight them off himself, Scott started on Ennis. They collided so roughly that the sound that came from them echoed through the abandoned building. They were thrown off in different directions and when Scott landed in a typical superhero landing, Olivia was shocked to see that his eyes had flashed to that alpha red that was so familiar. _

_Scott blinked and his eyes changed back to gold. He went back to Ennis and Derek came from the other side, both of them hitting the alpha's back and front. Derek and Ennis ended up further away from Scott and they fought savagely, growling and grunting as they attacked each other. _

_It was when they were close to the edge of the platform that Derek's name started going off in Olivia's head. They teetered on the edge, holding onto one another but when Scott dived, sinking his claws into Ennis' calf, it all changed. _

_Ennis started falling and all that anyone could do was watch as he took Derek with him. _

"_DEREK!"_

"Livvy? Earth to Livvy?" she heard Stiles calling her name; she blinked and opened her eyes to see that he was waving his hand in her face. "Baby, are you in there?"

She reached up and grabbed his hand. "No pet names."

Stiles grinned at her. "There you are. You were out of it for a second, huh?" she nodded. "Are you okay?"

"I was just thinking about last night," Olivia gave him a half-hearted smile and quickly changed the subject. "So, when you tried to think of something to stop the bus, making Jared puke was the first thing that came to your mind?"

"You can say it, I'm a genius," Stiles boasted, causing her to laugh.

"The genius who gets to ride in a bus that smells like vomit," she playfully pinched his side where she knew he was ticklish; he jerked away from her with a grimace and a fake glare.

"I'm gonna get you for that."

"Mm," she hummed. "Sure you will, sweetcheeks."

"Hey, hey, no pet names!"

From the doorway of the bus, Coach blew his whistle, catching their attention as well as the rest of their classmates. "Let's go!" he yelled. "Back on the bus!"

Olivia and Stiles gave each other panicked looks and then searched for Lydia, who was standing near the rest stop waiting for Allison and Scott to come out. She gave them an equally nervous look.

"Okay, I'm gonna go distract Coach," Stiles told Olivia. "I did it once and I can do it again."

"Good luck."

As Stiles marched over to Coach, Isaac and Boyd made their way over to her.

"Hey, what's going on with you guys?" Isaac wondered. "Is it Scott?"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek and answered honestly, "Yeah, he's wasn't healing so Allison's trying to stitch him up in the bathroom."

Boyd raised his eyebrows. "Is she almost done?"

"I have no idea," she sighed and looked at Isaac, who was glaring in Ethan's direction. "Isaac?"

"I can buy them more time," he said simply before strutting over to the alpha.

Isaac lunged toward Ethan and immediately, a fight broke out. Without his brother there to fight with him, Ethan was pretty much useless. Isaac quickly overpowered him and didn't stop punching him in the face, even though Coach was screaming at him to stop.

Olivia wasn't sure if she should interfere. She wasn't even sure she wanted to interfere. Ethan might have been the nicer of the twin alphas but he was in no way innocent. He had a hand in killing Erica like the rest of the pack and he was a killer. He deserved a good punching in the face.

"Liv, what's happening?" Scott called for her as Allison and Lydia helped him over to her side.

"Isaac went after Ethan," she said calmly. "I told them what was happening with you so now Isaac's causing a distraction."

Stiles ran back to them just as she was finishing telling Scott what happened. "You know, I don't think you should be so calm about that."

"What?" she shrugged casually. "he deserves it."

Scott gave her a scolding look and broke away from Allison and Lydia's grips to make his way toward the fight. Boyd was standing to the side with their teammates, watching Ethan's beatdown unfold, a satisfied look on his face. Scott pushed through the crowd surrounding Isaac and Ethan.

"ISAAC!"

Olivia's gaze flashed purple from his shout and through her link to Isaac, she could feel him calm down.

_Huh_, she thought, _interesting_…

They were all herded onto the bus—even Olivia, Allison, and Lydia since Allison's car was out of gas. Olivia shared a seat with Stiles since Allison wanted to sit with Scott and Lydia was left to sit alone in the seat in front of them as the bus pulled away from the rest stop and continued toward the school where their meet was to take place.

"All right, let's go over this one more time," Stiles spoke up, catching Olivia's and Lydia's attention. "So it's the sacrifices, right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's, like, a dark druid of some kind."

"Or actually _is_ a dark druid," Olivia countered, resting her head on his shoulder. "A darach."

Stiles nodded and pressed his lips to the crown of her head.

Lydia hummed thoughtfully. "You know, some ancient cultures sacrificed people in preparation for battle."

Olivia sighed in realization and Stiles raised his eyebrows as he picked up what she meant. It hadn't been a coincidence that the sacrifices started happening when the alpha pack arrived in Beacon Hills. This darach, whoever he was, was preparing to face them, for whatever reason.

"So, we got alpha werewolves against a dark druid," he sighed. "Great."

Their lives got easier every day, didn't they?


	30. Motel From Hell

**[3x06; Motel California]**

There was something about the motel that didn't sit right with Olivia. Her skin crawled and her mind itched and she didn't know whether it was the lingering scent of cigarette smoke, the stained sheets covering the beds, or the creepy lady at reception that stared at her for a little too long. She hated that out of all the motels and hotels in the area, Glen Capri—aka, motel horrifying—was the one who had the most vacancies and were willing to put up with a cross country team, this obnoxious coach, a bus driver, and three stragglers.

Olivia didn't want to blame this miserable experience on the fact that cross-county was one of the most useless sports…but, let's be honest, it really was. She hated cross-country and now the hatred was worse since they were stuck in the middle of nowhere piled into small, smelly rooms like sardines.

She sighed heavily and plopped her leather satchel on the bed closest to the window. Allison was stronger and more skilled at protecting herself so if someone broke into their room, at least she'd be able to protect them.

"At least the beds don't look bad," she tried to be optimistic. By the tone of her voice and the look Allison gave her, she had failed. "Lydia, is the right side all right for you?" her cousin didn't reply and when Olivia turned to her, she saw that she was still standing by the locked door. "Lydia?"

Lydia grimaced, her eyes slowly looking around their room. "I don't like this place."

Allison laughed lightly. "I don't think the people who own this place like this place," she tried to cheer her up. "It's just for a night."

Lydia didn't look amused. "A lot can happen in one night."

Well, that was true and it had happened to them a lot of times—like three weeks before when Boyd and Cora were out of control, Lydia randomly discovered a dead body, and Stiles figured out that someone was sacrificing people all in one night. Olivia shared Lydia's hesitance the more time she spent in the motel. The crawling on her skin had turned into more of a tingle and her mind was buzzing, differently than her normal abilities.

Despite her own worry, she needed to comfort Lydia. She walked over to the door and wrapped an arm around her cousin, hoping to calm her down some. If she kept on fretting, she wouldn't get any sleep and like Olivia, Lydia was a monster if she didn't get her beauty rest.

"Let's watch TV," she suggested, slowly leading Lydia to their bed and picking up the remote where it laid on the nightstand in between the beds in order to turn the television on. "What do you want to watch?"

"I'm fine with anything," Allison shrugged as she set her bag down on her bed and pulled out a change of clothing. "I'm gonna take a shower."

Olivia wished that she had the thought to bring a change of clothes—she was stuck in a maroon shirt with Stiles' number on the front, a leather jacket, and a black skirt—but how could she have known? Still, she wished that she was getting comfortable in some pajamas like Allison was.

Allison wandered into the bathroom while Olivia and Lydia settled on watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Lydia was obsessed and Olivia was known to get into it from time to time). They could hear the shower turn on, but only seconds later, the door opened and Allison's head popped out.

"Hey, can you guys get new towels?" she asked. "These smell like smoke."

"Sure," Lydia was quick to jump to her feet and make her way over to the bathroom, taking the towels that Allison offered. "We'll be right back. Come on, Liv."

Olivia glanced at the television, where Kim and Khloe were having drama, and sighed reluctantly. She got to her feet and grabbed the key for their room before exiting and locking the door behind them.

"Liv," Lydia spoke up as they made their way down the set of stairs to the parking lot. "can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are you feeling something?" she asked hesitantly. "Like, you know, when you know when one of us are in danger?"

Olivia gave her a surprised look. "A little but it might be because this place creeps me out," she confessed. "Why? Are you okay?"

"I have a feeling too," Lydia admitted. "Remember when you told me that you just get these whispers out of the blue and they tell you things?"

"Yeah," Olivia recalled the conversation that she and Lydia had once she studied up on what she was and what she could do in both the Argent and the Hale bestiaries. "You're experiencing that?"

Lydia nodded.

What did that mean? Was Lydia like her but without the werewolf connection? She supposed that made sense—they were related, after all. Maybe Olivia's mom inherited something from her family and then she and Thomas passed it down to her and Lydia. It wasn't a far-off theory.

"All right," Olivia sighed; she didn't want this for Lydia. The experience she had with her abilities were exhausting; she constantly had headaches, her ears always hurt, she blacked out sometimes, and she had voices in her head that would make her look crazy if anyone other than the people who knew about the supernatural world found out. "Just don't panic, okay? I'll help you and we'll figure it out."

"Okay," the vulnerable look on Lydia's face broke her heart.

Her cousin had always been the strong one; from the moment Olivia was born to the present, Lydia had been protective over her and made sure to stay strong. Before Olivia and Stiles started dating, she and Lydia were really only vulnerable around each other and they didn't let other people see how they felt on the inside. Still, every time Lydia was sad, Olivia was sad with her and both of them hated when they couldn't cheer each other up.

Right now was one of those times. It didn't feel good to see someone you loved scared of something that they couldn't control.

They were quiet for a moment and soon they entered the main office where they had rented a room from the creepy receptionist.

Lydia plopped the towels on the little ledge next to the glass that separated the lobby from the desk. "Excuse me?" she called through the tiny circle that customers were supposed to talk through. "The card on the dresser said that we have non-smoking room but somehow all of our towels reek of nicotine."

The creepy receptionist turned around with a pleasant smile on her face. "Sorry about that, sweetheart."

"It's fine," Olivia said quickly when Lydia was taken aback by the breathing technology that helped the woman breathe after years of smoking. "If we could get some more towels, though, that would be great."

"Sure thing," the woman poked her hands through the long rectangular hole at the bottom of the glass by the ledge and grabbed the towels.

"What's that?" Lydia asked before the woman could turn around, her eyes on a framed number on the wall behind the receptionist. "The number?"

"It's a kind of inside thing for the motel," the woman told them. "My husband insists on keeping it up."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "What do you mean?"

"It's a little bit morbid, to be honest. You girls sure you want to know?"

She was clearly baiting them but they rose to the challenge.

"Tell us," Lydia insisted.

The woman looked pleased that she was going to be able to tell this _supposed_ inside story. "We're not gonna make the top of anyone's list when it comes to customer satisfaction—"

"Obvious," Lydia muttered under her breath, allowing only Olivia to hear it; the younger Martin smiled slightly in response.

"—but we are number one in California when it comes to one disturbing little detail," the woman continued. "Since opening, more than any other motel in California, we have the most guest suicides."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek as her eyes darted to the framed number. One hundred and ninety-eight suicides in one motel didn't seem like much. It was actually an average number per year (almost five) depending on when the motel opened in the first place.

"One hundred and ninety-eight?" Lydia was more disturbed than Olivia was.

The woman nodded. "And counting."

"All right, so I have four," Stiles declared as he plopped onto his selected bed, the mattress only bouncing once or twice.

From the bed near the door and in the same position as Stiles, Scott looked over at him. "Four?" he asked, shocked. "You have four suspects?"

"Yeah, it was originally ten," Stiles admitted. "Well, nine technically, I guess. I had Derek on there two times."

"So, who's your number one? Harris?"

"Just because he's missing doesn't mean he's dead," Stiles confirmed.

"So, if he's not dead, our chemistry teacher is out secretly committing human sacrifices?"

Stiles paused and looked over at him. "Yeah, I guess that just sounded way better in my head."

"Well, what if it's somebody else from school?" Scott mused. "You remember Matt? We didn't know that he was killing people."

Stiles lifted his head to look at his best friend in disbelief. "Excuse me?" he scrambled to his feet, determined to remind Scott that, yes, he did think it was Matt and he had told Scott that it was but he didn't believe him. "I'm sorry, what? Yes, we did. I called that from day one, actually."

"Yeah, but we never seriously thought that it was Matt," Scott sat up and raised his eyebrows at Stiles.

"I was serious," Stiles insisted. "I was quite serious, actually. Deadly seriously. No one listened to me."

Scott didn't bother to say anything more on the Matt subject and Stiles was glad. He didn't want to get into a whole debate that ended up with him losing his temper and Scott placating him.

"Who were the other three?"

"Derek's sister, Cora," Stiles told him. "No one knows anything about her and she's Derek's sister."

"And Liv's cousin," Scott pointed out. "and you had sex with her."

"Yes, I know I had sex with her, could you stop bringing that up?" Stiles hissed at him. "God."

Scott smirked at him, amused.

"Next, your boss," Stiles moved on.

"My boss?"

"Yeah, your boss," he repeated. "I don't really like the whole Obi-Wan thing he's got going on, you know. It freaks me out."

Scott stared at him blankly and suddenly Stiles was craving Olivia's presence because she would know exactly what he was talking about. But, then again, she would probably disagree with him because she trusted Deaton as he had been the Hale pack's adversary before most of them died.

"I can't believe you still haven't seen _Star Wars_," Stiles complained.

"I swear, if we make it back alive, I will watch the movie," Scott promised.

"Scott, there's six movies!" Stiles bounced on the balls of his feet in frustration. "The originals and the prequels!"

"All right, I'll watch them all," Scott shook his head. "Okay, who was the last one?"

Stiles sighed heavily, his mood darkening. "Lydia," he said quickly as he sat back on his bed; it didn't exactly bring him pleasure to accuse one of his friends of sacrificing people behind her back. "She was totally controlled by Peter and she had no idea, so…"

Scott's face fell in realization as he thought about what Stiles said. Both of them exhaling deeply, they fell back on the bed once again and stared silently at the ceiling.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Olivia quietly asked into her phone as she paced up and down the pathway outside of the room she shared with Allison and Lydia. "Because I can feel you and I know you're in pain."

"I'm healing," Derek's voice was coming out in pained gasps. "I have someone helping me."

"Who?" she furrowed her eyebrows. "Is Cora even at the loft?"

"No, she's not," he told her. "You remember that teacher on the night of the full moon?"

Olivia paused for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant, and then cringed. "You have my English teacher at the loft?" she hissed. "I thought you said she didn't know, Derek."

"Yeah, well, she does," her cousin let out a grunt and then a hiss. "and she's helping me. Where are you, anyway?"

"Some gross motel, it's not important," Olivia said quickly. "Look, Cora told me that Ennis died. Do you know what that means for you?"

"That I have to join their pack or they kill me," Derek seemed to calm about the threat on his and his betas lives. "I'll figure it out. I have to go, Ollie."

"Wait, wait—" the dial toned; she groaned and locked her phone. "Dickhead."

She huffed, composing herself, and went to go back into the room when she a sharp but quick pain flashed through her head. She pressed her fingers to her temples and inhaled deeply as faint whispers started. The warnings were unintelligible; something was happening but it wasn't focused enough that she could figure out what it was.

The whispers died down only slightly as she entered the motel room. Allison was out of the shower and dressed, drying her hair with a clean towel that did not smell like smoke, as Lydia explained what they had discovered at the reception desk.

"One hundred and ninety-eight?" Allison repeated, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, and we're talking forty years," Lydia stressed and did a quick calculation in her head. "On average that's 4.95 a year…"

"Which is perfectly average," Olivia finished for her as she sat down next to her.

"Well, still," Lydia huffed. "who commemorates that with a framed number? Who does that? Who?"

"All suicides?" Allison checked.

"Mmhm," Lydia nodded, distressed. "Hanging, throat-cutting, pill-popping, both-barrels-of-a-shotgun-in-the-mouth suicides. I don't know about you, but me, I—"

Lydia abruptly stopped talking, her head cocking toward the wall on her right side. Olivia watched her curiously, wondering why she had paused.

"Did you hear that?"

Olivia didn't hear anything, other than the faint buzzing in the background of her head. One look at Allison told her that she didn't hear anything, either.

"Hear what, Lyds?" she asked, concerned.

Lydia didn't answer; she turned her head back toward the wall, a horrified expression covering her face. She slowly stood up and as if she was in a trance, stepped onto the bed, shoes and all. She got as close to the wall as she could, maintaining her balance with a hand on the headboard, and eyed the vent at the top.

"Lydia?"

Shuddering gasps started making their way out of Lydia's mouth as tears slipped from her eyes. Olivia's hand shot up to her head, where she was now hearing her own warnings. Warnings about Lydia and what she was going through.

_Lydia, Lydia, Lydia. She can hear them. Both of them. They did it together and she can hear them. Lydia, Lydia, Lydia. _

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Lydia whimpered as she continued to hear whatever it was that Olivia and Allison couldn't.

Having gotten to her feet, Olivia reached for her cousin's hand. Just as her skin touched Lydia's, two gunshots echoed through her head, causing her to flinch back and screech slightly. The noise she made harmonized with the strangled gasp that came from Lydia.

"What is it?" Allison hovered anxiously behind them, grabbing Lydia's other hand to help her down. "Guys?"

Lydia whipped around to face Olivia, eyes wet. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I heard the ending of it," Olivia told her cousin, both of them ignoring Allison for the moment. "When I touched your hand, I heard it."

"Guys!" Allison exclaimed, getting their attention; when the both of them looked at her, she repeated her question. "What did you hear?"

"The two people in the next room, they shot each other," Lydia told her before tearing over to the door and ripping it open so she could leave the room.

Olivia and Allison immediately followed after her. The room to their right, number 216, where Lydia and Olivia heard the shots come from looked normal from the outside. But the door was unlocked and when Lydia pushed it open, the whole room was shrouded in darkness. Olivia flipped the light switch to turn on the light but the light bulb must have been worn out.

Lydia started walking into the room and Olivia followed after her, much to Allison's protest, turning on the flashlight from her phone in order to find some kind of light.

"Hello?" Lydia called.

Thanks to the small light from her phone, Olivia located a lamp. She switched it on and when the light flooded the room, they saw that it was in total construction. There was no one there; there were no guns, no blood, and certainly no bodies.

Lydia blinked in confusion, more tears falling down her cheeks, as she walked toward the middle of the room. "It had to be right here," her voice trembled. "It was a guy and a girl and, I mean, they sounded younger but—but they were here."

"I know," Olivia assured her, grabbing her hand and clasping it tightly in her grip. "We believe you."

Allison nodded in agreement. "After everything we've been through, we believe you."

They ended up back in their room only moments later. Lydia rushed around the room, collecting their belongings—in her case, it was just a tube of lip balm and a small bottle of perfume—while Olivia sat on the end of their bed, lost in her thoughts, and Allison paced by the window.

"You know, there is something seriously wrong with this place," Lydia hummed. "Guys, we need to leave."

"But they were suicides, not murders," Allison tried to be the voice of reason. "and it's not like this place is haunted, right?"

"Maybe it is," Lydia shrugged helplessly. "You know, I bet that couple made their suicide pact in that very room. Maybe that's why they're renovating. Maybe they've been scraping brain matter off the wood paneling."

"Maybe we should find out," Allison offered.

The three of them went down to the main office but when they got there, the receptionist was gone and a sign told them that she'd be back by the morning.

Lydia sighed in frustration. "Well, there goes that."

Allison's eyes were glued on the sign on the back wall. "Didn't you guys say that the sign said one-ninety-eight?"

Olivia and Lydia looked over at the sign. _201_.

"It was one-ninety-eight," Lydia insisted. "I swear to God it was."

Out of nowhere, Olivia heard the crumbling noise of ice cubes falling over another. She looked back at Lydia and Allison to see if they heard what she did but they were looking at each other; their mouths were moving but no sound was coming out. She couldn't hear their conversation.

The noise sounded again; she turned her head to the office door and silently walked over to it. Her mouth moved mechanically and she said something to Allison and Lydia but she couldn't hear what it was. She couldn't hear anything but the crushing of ice—and then, there was a single whisper:

_Alicia…?_

She walked out of the office and let the feeling inside of her of head guide her wherever it was supposed to take her. She was only a few feet away from the ice machine, where ice was scattered all over the concrete, a bucket laid on its side, when more noise crowded her head.

There were fists banging on some sort of metal and there were whimpers of fear and cries of desperation.

_Dad…!_

She walked away from the ice machine and toward one side of the motel, passing many rooms on the ground floor. When she got to the nearest staircase, she climbed the steps and reached the second floor when more sounds attacked her.

This time it was the slicing of claws against delicate skin, a cry of pain, gurgling blood, a dial tone, and mournful cries.

_Mom…!_

A horrible ache shot through Olivia's head, so painful that it had her crumbling to her knees. Her eyesight went from normal to purple to a blinding white within two seconds. She crawled blindly toward the wall of the stairwell and gripped her head in her hands, clenching her teeth so tightly together as waves and waves of disconnected voices washed over her.

_Alicia? Dad! Mom! He's healing, she's healing him. Alicia? Dad! Mom! Derek? Derek? Derek? Scott, Scott, Scott. Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. Boyd, Boyd, Boyd. He's in danger, they're all in danger!_

_Olivia, Olivia, Olivia…OLIVIA!_

"Last time I saw Scott act like that was during the full moon," Allison told Stiles and Lydia, finishing up her story of how Scott had come into the bathroom while she was showering and acted like a creep.

Stiles stood in the girls' room, his arms folded over his chest as he thought about what Allison had said. He witnessed Scott gazing out the window, which was weird, but his encounter with Boyd was more worrisome.

"Yeah, I know, he was definitely a little off with me too," he agreed. "but, actually, it was Boyd who was really off. I watched him put his fist through the vending machine."

What worried him more than Scott and Boyd put together, though, was Olivia. Lydia and Allison had called him, both of them upset, and told him that Olivia was acting weird and that she all of a sudden disappeared and that they couldn't find her. He had immediately met them at the main office and they did a quick sweep of the ground floor where she had wandered off but there was still no sign of her.

He was going out of his fucking mind with worry and fear but he had to be strong right now and keep a level head. Lydia was scared out of her mind and Allison couldn't figure this out by herself. Scott wasn't an option and Olivia was somewhere more than likely having one of her episodes, so it was down to him.

"See, it is the motel," Lydia said, her voice a little shrill. "Either we need to find Liv and get out of here right now or…" she stomped to the table between the beds and grabbed the nondescript bible in the drawer, showing it to them. "someone needs to learn how to do an exorcism ASAP before the werewolves go crazy and kill us."

"Okay, just hold on, all right?" Stiles gestured at her to take a breath as his mind raced with theories of what could be going on. "What if it's not just the motel? The number in the office went up by three, right?"

Allison understood his train of thought. "You mean like three sacrifices?"

Stiles nodded. "What if this time it's three werewolves?"

"Scott, Isaac, and Boyd," Allison mused. "and that's why Liv is freaking out. She's experiencing whatever they're going through."

"I think we were meant to come here," Stiles declared.

"Exactly!" Lydia pointed at him. "So can we get the fuck out of here now?"

Stiles glanced at her but a paper sticking out of the bible she still held in her hand caught his attention. "Wait, hang on," he took the bible from her. "Let me see this."

He flipped through the many pages and came to a stop when he located the paper. It was an old newspaper clipping about a suicide that had happened in the very room where they were.

"What is that?"

"_Twenty-eight-year-old hangs himself at the infamous Glen Capri,"_ he read aloud and handed the paper to Allison before going through the rest of the bible.

He pulled out four more clippings and tossed them on the bed. Lydia picked two of them up and quickly read through both of them.

"Oh, no, look at these two," Lydia handed them to Allison and Stiles. "They both mention room 217. These are probably all the suicides that happened in this room."

"So, if every room has a bible…" Allison trailed off thoughtfully.

"There could be articles in all the rooms," Lydia finished for her.

Stiles wrinkled his nose. "That's a beautiful thing," he mumbled cynically. "Most places leave a mint under the pillow. This one leaves a record of all the horrible deaths that occurred."

"What if the room next door has the one about the couple?" Lydia wondered.

The three of them shared a look and then, all at once, they ran out of the room and to the one being renovated next door. Stiles tried to turn the doorknob but it wouldn't budge; he grabbed it with two hands and shook it furiously, trying to get the door opened.

"No, that was not locked before!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Forget it," Allison said urgently. "We need to find Liv and get Scott, Isaac, and Boyd out of here."

Stiles agreed with that plan; he let go of the doorknob and pushed past the girls to run to the stairs, only to stop when he heard a loud mechanical buzzing.

He turned back to the girls just as Lydia asked, "I'm not the only one who heard that, am I?"

Allison shook her head. "It sounds like someone turned the handsaw on."

Stiles jumped back over to them. "_Handsaw_?" he repeated in disbelief as he started throwing himself at the door. To say that it was difficult was an understatement. "Jesus-fucking-Christ!"

Finally, after a couple more pushes, the door flew open. At the other end of the room, Ethan stood with a running saw in his hands. He slowly and deliberately went to press the saw's running blade to his stomach.

"Hey, no, Ethan, don't!" Stiles shouted.

He lunged forward and didn't spare a second to think as he grabbed the other side of the handle. He pulled with all of his might as Ethan fought him for control of the power tool. Ethan was obviously stronger—alpha werewolf, remember? —so the fight wasn't evenly matched. When Stiles let go of it in order not to get himself disemboweled and kicked Ethan's leg at the same time, the saw dropped to the ground. His action of pulling himself away from the alpha sent him to the ground, right in the direction of the saw.

His life flashed in front of his eyes but death didn't come, thankfully. Lydia had pulled the saw's plug from the outlet just in time and the saw came to a complete stop when Stiles caught himself only two or three inches away from the blade.

Allison grabbed him and pulled him away from the saw but he didn't get time to have a second of relief. Ethan flicked out his claws and brought them to his stomach like he did the saw; Stiles and Allison rushed to him and each grabbed one of his arms, using all of their strength to keep him from killing himself.

Ethan fought them once again and pushed past them, only to fall on the small space heater only a few feet away. His skin audibly singed and he grunted in pain as he fell to the floor. The pain seemed to take him out of whatever trance he was in. He quickly rolled to his feet and glowered at Stiles, Allison, and Lydia.

"What just happened?"

They didn't have time to answer him before he was running out of the room.

"Ethan!" Stiles, Lydia, and Allison ran after him, going down the stairs two at a time to keep up with him. "Hey, what happened back there?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Ethan snapped at him while trying to do up the buttons on his shirt. "I don't know how I got there or what I was doing."

"Okay, you could be a little bit more helpful, you know," Stiles snarked back at him. "We did just save your life."

"And you probably shouldn't have!"

Stiles turned away from the alpha as he stomped back to his room and faced Lydia and Allison.

"What do we do now?" Lydia asked.

"I'll find Scott and Liv," Allison volunteered. "You guys grab Isaac and Boyd. The best thing we can do is get them out of this place."

Stiles grimaced as Allison turned away from them and climbed the stairs back to the second level. He didn't know what to do; Olivia was missing, the werewolves were freaking out, and Lydia just happened to be hearing things at the same time? It was a little too much of a coincidence…

Lydia caught the look on his face. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh, no, I—" he scrambled to make an excuse but Lydia called him on his bullshit.

"Stiles."

Stiles sighed and gave in. "All right, Lydia, I didn't want to say anything but this—everything we're going through," he winced and just bit the bullet. "we've kind of been through something like this before. A lot of like this."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked, confused. "When?"

"Your birthday party, the night you poisoned everyone with wolfsbane."

Lydia scoffed, offended, and turned to stalk away from him.

"Lydia, I'm sorry, okay," Stiles chased after her; he hadn't wanted to offend her but he had a reason to be worried. And, no offense to her, but they didn't have time for her to have a tantrum; Scott, Isaac, and Boyd were doing whatever they could to hurt themselves and Olivia was _still_ missing. "I didn't mean that you're trying to kill people. I just meant that maybe you're somehow involved in getting people to kill themselves, which doesn't really sound much better now that I've said it out loud."

He hadn't even noticed that Lydia had stopped walking. He would have passed her by if she hadn't grabbed his arm and asked, "Stiles, do you hear that?"

"What?" he said hurriedly. "What did you hear?"

Lydia glanced at the ice machine only a few feet away from them and then back toward the motel. "I hear Liv. I hear _her_."

"What?"

But she was already running toward the nearest staircase. Stiles' heart raced anxiously as he followed her, quickly climbing the stairs to the second floor. He almost ran into her as she came to an abrupt stop but managed to stop himself.

That was when he heard Olivia. Desperate whispers and soft pleads were spoken with her hoarse voice. They followed the sounds she made to an incave where vending machine was placed. She was there, sitting against it with knees to her chest and her forehead resting on them. There was blood slowly dripping down her legs and it made the air leave his chest in one _whoosh_.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck_! He cursed himself as he dropped to his knees in front of her.

"Olivia? It's me," he said softly, placing his hands on her legs, just under her kneecaps; her legs were freezing. She didn't react but kept on whispering under her breath; there were too many words for him to understand what she was saying. "Livvy. Baby, please look at me."

With no reaction, he carefully grabbed her chin and gently lifted her head. Her irises were deep purple and the whites around them were bloodshot. She was staring in his direction now but she wasn't _looking_ at him and the blood he had seen on her legs had to be from her nose, which was still dripping. It was the worst he had ever seen her during one of her episodes. It had to be because she was feeling Scott, Isaac, and Boyd at one time.

"Olivia," he tried to get her attention as Lydia hovered nervously behind him. "Livvy, come on. It's Stiles. I'm right here. Come on, baby."

One second, Lydia was pushing him away from Olivia and the next, she was slapping her cousin in the face.

"What the fuck, Lydia?" he glared at her.

"She was out of it," Lydia gave Olivia most of her attention as she blinked rapidly and slowly pressed a hand against her stinging cheek. "Look, it worked."

"What the hell did you do that for?" Olivia groaned.

"You were having one of your episodes," Lydia told her gently, her voice a sharp contrast to how she was talking to Stiles earlier—granted, he did kind of blame her for what was going on. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Olivia answered with a wince; Stiles helped her to her feet and wrapped an arm around her, taking on most of her weight. "My head's killing me. What's going on?"

Stiles and Lydia gave her a quick run-down on what had happened since she disappeared out of nowhere. The number on the sign had gone up by three, they figured that the number meant there would be three more sacrifices, the werewolves were freaking out—and so was she—and they had stopped Ethan from killing himself.

Toward the end of Olivia's catch-up, Stiles was the only one speaking. Olivia wasn't paying attention, her eyes blinking back to purple, as Lydia stared off in the distance.

"Hello? Are you guys even listening to me?"

"Someone's drowning!" Lydia declared as she snapped out of wherever she had gone to.

"It's Boyd," Olivia quickly followed up.

The three of them took off down the hallway and to Boyd and Isaac's room. The door wasn't even shut all the way, which allowed them to keep their speed all the way to the bathroom. All that Olivia could hear as she weakly fell to her knees at the head of the tub was the pounding of her heart and Boyd's name.

Boyd was completely underwater, with the room's safe keeping him still. While Olivia pressed her hands to Boyd's head, trying to get him to react, to do something in order to save his life, Stiles prodded around the drain.

"He blocked it," Stiles' voice sounded as panicked as she felt. "He blocked the drain with something. I can't get to it."

"What do we do?" Lydia asked quickly.

Olivia didn't bother answering Lydia, Stiles had that under control. She focused the rest of her energy on worming herself into Boyd's head to get ahold of him and keeping out the whispers that told her that Isaac and Scott were in trouble, too. It was hard to do both; Boyd's mind was impenetrable, which was odd. She usually only had a little difficulty getting into her pack mates' heads and Boyd was no exception. He wasn't keeping her out, someone else was.

She opened her eyes just in time to see Stiles and Lydia straining to get the heavy safe off of Boyd's chest. Unfortunately, it was too heavy and even when she joined in with the lifting, they were unable to do it.

"Is he dead?"

"He's not dead but he's going to be," Olivia told Lydia quickly, her voice panicked and her eyes stinging. She turned to Stiles, who was trying to lift the safe by himself at that point, and asked, "How long can a werewolf stay underwater?"

"You think I know that?" his voice trembled under the force he was using.

He finally let go of the safe and got to his feet, backing away from the tub. Olivia didn't question his odd action and took his place, her knees slipping in the water that slopped from the tub. Lydia joined her and they both continued to try to pry the safe off of Boyd.

"Ah!" Stiles hissed in the background, catching Olivia and Lydia's attention. He had burnt his arm on the wall heater. "Wait a sec," he said thoughtfully and turned to Lydia, who had been there for Ethan's breakdown. "The heater, Ethan came out of it when he touched the heater?"

Olivia gave them a look of frustration; what did Ethan touching a heater have to do with Boyd? "What?"

"It's heat, heat, fire," Stiles gestured wildly as he tried to get Olivia to understand. "Heat does it, all right? We need something…We need fire."

"He's underwater!"

Stiles glared at Lydia. "Yeah, I'm aware of that."

Despite being confused only seconds earlier, Olivia was all caught up. Knowing that Boyd depended on them to keep him alive when he couldn't, she couldn't be slowed down by confusion.

And she wasn't anymore. As soon as Stiles had said that they needed fire to knock Boyd out of whatever mess he was in, her mind had started to race. There were only a couple of things that could make fire underwater and flares were one of them.

"Run to the bus," Olivia urged Stiles, who quickly gave her his attention. "The bus will have emergency road flares. They have their own oxidizers. They can burn underwater."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, go!"

Olivia turned back to the tub as Stiles left the room and took another shot at trying to get inside Boyd's mind. Pressing her hands against both of his temples, she closed her eyes and began focusing, repeated his name over and over again in her head. From the sheer force of her will and all of the strength in her, she slowly began to feel the wall keeping her out of his head starting to crack.

_Come on, Boyd, let me in…Boyd, I'm here…It's Liv…Let me in so I can help you_…She was almost there…a little bit more…

A gasp flew out of her mouth as she was mentally propelled back from Boyd's mind. She opened her eyes, totally worn out, and wiped away the blood from her top lip.

Why did that happen? It wasn't supposed to happen!

"Liv!" Lydia called from the bedroom, catching her attention. "Isaac's freaking out under the bed."

Olivia rested her forehead against the lip of the tub, inhaling deeply.

"I know," she said wearily; out of the two werewolves in the room going through something, it was Isaac that was doing better. Yes, he was hidden under the bed—she knew the moment she walked into the room—and he was terrified, which broke her heart, but he wasn't suicidal. Boyd was the priority at the moment.

This whole thing terrified her. She was the pack's anchor, she was supposed to keep them from trouble, and here were her two friends, out of their minds with whatever was happening to them. She couldn't get through to Boyd and she could feel him slipping away from the bond that she had with the pack…and she was alone. Derek wasn't here to help her and it wasn't his fault but…she still felt alone.

She wasn't alone, though, not really.

Stiles burst back into the motel room and rushed to the bathroom, with two emergency flares in his hands. "I got them," he quickly told Olivia as he dropped down next to her; Lydia hovered nervously behind them. "What do I do? How do I do this?"

"Strike it against the cap, like a match," Olivia advised him. Stiles rapidly took off the cap and struck the flare against it, over and over again; it wasn't catching and Olivia was beginning to panic. _Boyd, Boyd, Boyd_… "Stiles!"

"Yeah, I'm trying."

With one last strike, the flare lit up, bathing the room with a red glow. Stiles huffed in satisfaction and stuck the flare into the water of the tub, pressing it firmly against Boyd's arm. Having enough forethought, he grabbed Olivia and heaved them both to their feet, jumping away as Boyd reared forward with a roar and the huge safe dropped to the floor right where they were sitting.

Olivia gasped in relief and burrowed her forehead into Stiles shoulder, taking deep breaths. She almost lost Boyd. He was her pack and she almost lost him…Her pack…Isaac…

Compared to Boyd, Isaac was easy to bring from the brink of the Darach's hold over him. Stiles got him with the flare—which Olivia suspected he liked a little _too_ much—and they quickly explained everything that they thought was going on. Now, that Isaac and Boyd were safe and their names were no longer in Olivia's head, it was just Scott.

They set out of Isaac and Boyd's room and made their way back to the girls' room. Allison was there waiting for them, without Scott by her side.

"I can't find Scott anywhere," Allison told Olivia, Stiles, and Lydia as the four of them rushed down to the ground level in order to continue their search for Scott.

"It's happening to him too, isn't it?" Stiles directed his question to Olivia.

She nodded; Scott was the only pack member left who was in danger at the moment. But it didn't matter if he was the only one, his name was loud in her head. _Scott, Scott, Scott…_ "It is," she confirmed. "Was there another flare on the bus?"

"Yeah, there was," Stiles reached the end of the stairs, Olivia, Lydia, and Allison following his lead. "I'll get it—"

Stiles stopped speaking as the four of them came to an abrupt stop, shocked at the scene in front of them. Scott was standing in the middle of the parking lot, soaked head to toe with gasoline (the extra gas can from the bus was emptied at his feet), and a lit flare in his hand. He didn't move at all, his head bowed toward the pavement beneath his feet, as they approached him quietly, nervously.

Olivia glanced at Stiles and when she saw the stricken look on his face, gripped his hand tightly. Taking a deep breath, she spoke up, hoping that she could get through to Scott, "Scott? Scott."

Scott lifted his head, looking at his friends with sad, yet faraway eyes. "There's no hope."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek at the sheer pain in Scott's voice, her heart breaking a little. Sure, her and Scott weren't the best of friends, but they were still friends. Even if they weren't, this whole situation would still be heart-breaking and mind-boggling. She hadn't experienced hopelessness before, where she couldn't see a way out other than death, but she knew that it was a tough spot to be in and she was fully sympathetic. She didn't want to see Scott end his life, not just for his sake, but for the people who loved and cared about him.

"What do you mean, Scott?" Allison shook her head, eyes wet. "There's always hope."

"Not for me. Not for Derek."

Olivia just wished that Scott would listen to her for once so that he wasn't in danger. Derek was not dead and even if he was, Scott would not be at fault. He didn't need to carry around any guilt for something that didn't even happen. Olivia knew that arguing wasn't the best thing to do at the moment, though. She needed to be supportive and kind and she would do that because Scott was her friend and her pack.

"Derek wasn't your fault," she said sternly, trying to reach some part of his mind. "What happened to Derek was not your fault, Scott."

"Every time I try to fight back, it just gets worse," Scott said. "People keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed."

Stiles squeezed Olivia's hand. "Scott, listen to me, okay?" he addressed his friend, his voice cracking with sadness. "This isn't you, all right? This is someone inside your head telling you to do this, okay? Now—"

"What if it isn't?" Scott cut him off. "What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing that I could do for everyone else?"

Tears started to sting Olivia's eyes; she couldn't feel Scott's emotions with her abilities but she didn't need to. She could see them on his face and in his body language, she could hear in his voice…She had never claimed to be an empathetic person but this was different. Scott couldn't do this; didn't he know how important he was to everyone?

_Scott, listen to me_, she pleaded mentally, trying to get past the defensive wall that the darach put in his head. _Listen to Stiles. This isn't you. You don't want to do this. You mean too much to the people you love. You are not a screw up._

"It all started that night," Scott looked into Stiles' eyes as he went on, showing no evidence that he was hearing Olivia's pleads in his head. "the night I got bitten. You remember the way it was before that? You and me, we were—we were nothing. We weren't popular, we weren't good at lacrosse. We weren't important…"

_You are important, Scott. You are something. Please, please just listen to me._

"We were no one," Scott finished, his voice trembling. "Maybe I should just be no one again. No one at all."

He lifted the flare higher, intending to release it._ Please, Scott, don't do this. Scott…Scott…Scott…Please. _

Olivia looked over at Stiles as he released the tight grip he had on her hand. He had tears in his eyes as he stepped toward his best friend. "Scott, just listen to me, okay? You're not on one, okay?" he said firmly, coming to a stop only a step away from Scott. "You're someone. You're…Scott, you're my best friend, okay?"

Scott stared at Stiles, tears now running down his cheeks as he sobbed quietly. Combined with Olivia's repeated efforts in getting into Scott's head, Stiles words seemed to be working. It was touching that Stiles and Scott has such a close friendship. They were family as much as Olivia and Lydia were, even if they weren't blood related.

"…and I need you. Scott, you're my brother, all right?" Olivia bit back a gasp as Stiles stepped into the gasoline puddle and reached for the flare in Scott's hand. "So…so, if you're gonna do this, then I think you're just gonna have to take me with you, all right?"

_Scott, please don't do this…You need to save yourself and Stiles right now, all right? You need to take control and you need to live. Please, you and Stiles have to live. SCOTT!_

Scott's grip on the flare loosened, allowing Stiles to take it from him. Olivia, Lydia, and Allison didn't have time to take a breath of relief as he threw it a few feet away; the wind blew—too much to be a coincidence—and the flare started rolling right back to the puddle of gasoline.

"NO!" Olivia and Lydia screamed together.

The Martin cousins threw themselves at the boys, knocking them out of the puddle and onto the dry concrete. As soon as they hit the ground, the flare hit the gasoline and blew up, an explosion of flame going higher than the top of the bus.

Olivia buried her head into the back of Stiles' shoulder and let out a deep sigh of pure relief. _They're okay_, she reminded herself as she reached over and patted Scott on the back, hoping to give him more relief. _They're okay. We're all okay._

Stiles was a lanky guy. Sure, he had muscles—very delicious muscles, thank you—but he was still tall and skinny. Olivia had fallen asleep on his shoulders many a times and it was always uncomfortable because his shoulder dug into the side of her face painfully. But this, right now, with his arm around her, head leaned back on their seat, both of them draped in Stiles' wonderful-smelling sweatshirt, it was heaven.

Of course, his should was digging into her face again but she felt safe. After the night that everyone had, safe was important. Safe was nice. Safe was comforting.

She furrowed her eyebrows when she heard the slight noise of the bus door opening. Still asleep, it didn't bother her much. It was the loud blaring of Coach's whistle that made her want to throw the man off of the bus and run him over.

"I don't want to know," Coach said loudly as she, Stiles, Scott, Allison, Lydia, Isaac, and Boyd startled awake. "I really don't want to know but in case you missed the announcement, the meet's cancelled, so we're headed home."

"Cross-country is overrated, anyway," Olivia sighed sleepily, a smile growing on her face as Stiles pressed a messy kiss to her forehead as a good morning.

"Shh…go back to sleep," he rubbed her bare arm slowly; he loved her and all but Olivia was a massive grump when she didn't get enough sleep.

Olivia closed her eyes and tried to follow Stiles' advice but then Coach opened his big mouth again and all urge to fall asleep went right out the window.

"Pack it in, pack it in!"

The rest of the cross-country team ambled up the bus stairs, down the aisle, and sat in their seats. Ethan was the first one on the bus and he took a seat in the empty spot next to Scott, who was in the seat in front of Olivia and Stiles.

"I don't know what happened last night but I'm pretty sure you saved my life," Ethan stated calmly, looking over at Scott.

"Actually, I saved your life," Stiles piped into the conversation; why did Scott get all the glory? Not that he needed glory but the alpha twins were assholes, so…When both Ethan and Scott glared at him, he faltered. "Not that it matters so much. It's just a minor detail."

Ethan lifted his chin in acknowledgement and turned in his seat a little, so he was facing Olivia, Stiles, and Scott all at the same time. "So, I'm gonna give you something. I'm sure you know that Derek's alive—"

"Yeah, we've known," Olivia gave Scott a pointed look; he rolled his eyes with a slight smile. "I can feel him, he's healing."

"Then you know he killed one of ours," Ethan gave her an appraising look. "That means one of two things can happen. Either he joins our pack…"

"And kills his own," Olivia spat, narrowing her eyes at him.

Ethan nodded. "Or Kali goes after hi and we kill him. That's the way it works."

Olivia bristled at his threat and leaned toward him, furious. "Ethan, remember how I made you transform back into a human? If you touch Derek, I will find some way to make that permanent."

"Yeah, you hear that? She'll make it permanent," Stiles backed her up, giving Ethan his own glare. "Your little code of ethics, by the way? Sort of barbaric, F.Y.I."

Ethan gave the both of them a blank stare before getting up out of the seat and heading toward the back of the bus where Danny had saved him a spot.

Stiles frowned and faced Olivia. "We should probably practice being more intimidating."

Despite her bad moon, Olivia couldn't help but smile at him and pat his cheek affectionately.

"Hey, Ethan!" Coach started walking down the aisle, trying to get the alpha's attention. "I want…"

"Coach, can I see your whistle for a second?" Lydia interrupted him as he walked by her and Allison's seat across the aisle from Olivia and Stiles. She took the whistle from around his neck without an answer but Coach didn't seem affected by it as he continued walking toward Ethan.

"I'm gonna need that back," he warned her, not even bothering to turn around.

Olivia, Stiles, Scott, and Allison gave Lydia questioning looks as she put the whistle to her mouth and cupped her other hand around the end. She blew into it silently and then pulled her cupped hand away. In her palm was a powdering of bright purple wolfsbane; that was what had been affecting Scott, Isaac, Boyd, and Ethan and let the darach get into their heads.

"Wolfsbane."

"So, every time Coach blew the whistle on the bus, Scott, Isaac, Boyd—"

"And Ethan," Lydia added.

"We all inhaled it," Scott realized.

Allison nodded. "You were all poisoned by it."

"And it's how the Darach got into their heads," Olivia finished. "That's how they did it."

Stiles frowned and ripped the whistle out of Lydia's grasp. He reached over Olivia to pull down the window and quickly threw the whistle out of it, just as the bus started rolling out of Glen Capri's parking lot.

"Hey, hey, hey! _Stilinski_!"


	31. The Weight of Us

**[3x07; Currents]**

**[A/N: Waring, sexy times ahead. Read with Discretion. Ages 18+]**

One would think that date night at the local bowling alley would be cute and fun. Boy and girl would arrive at the alley, buy a couple of games and rent shoes, get something to drink and munch on, and then have a friendly competition while throwing huge balls down slippery wooden planks. Boy would be encouraging, girl would be sweet, and at the end, it didn't matter who won.

That was not the case for Stiles and Olivia.

At first, the date was as cutesy as one would expect it to be; Olivia picked up Stiles from his house—she had insisted she drive and after some arguing from Stiles, they finally settled on Olivia—they drove to the bowling alley in town; they bought two games and rented shoes; and they got themselves some pizza, nachos, and soda for dinner. The whole while, Stiles and Olivia enjoyed themselves, talking about random things—making sure not to bring up anything supernatural, as was their date rule—holding each other's hands, and kissing here and there.

It was when the games started that things started to go wrong. Both Olivia and Stiles were competitive by nature and just because they loved each other did not mean that they'd go easy on one another. Stiles was the kind of competitive person to shit-talk and Olivia got angry when things didn't go right for her. Usually she could keep a lid on it because she was pretty good at most things and usually won.

However good at bowling she was, Stiles was better. She was the type of bowler who played casually and Stiles…well, he could have been a professional bowler if he desired to do that. It turned out that Stiles used to be on a bowling team when he was in middle school and he just happened to forget to mention that when he brought up the subject of having their next date at the bowling alley.

Stiles was having the time of his life as he bowled strike after strike; Olivia thought he was a little sneak.

"Woohoo!" Stiles cheered as he ended his turn with yet another strike. He turned toward Olivia, where she was keeping score, and smirked at her playfully. "How many strikes is that, babe?"

Olivia pressed her lips together unhappily as she recorded the score. "Five in a row."

Stiles laughed as he sauntered over and plopped into the chair beside her. "Five in a row," he hummed in satisfaction. "Your turn, Livvy. Try to knock all the pins down this time."

She gave him an unamused look as she rose to her feet and picked up the purple nine-pound ball she had selected when they arrived. She moved away from the receiver and to the area right before the lane, taking a huge breath and pulling her ball up to her chest. Another breath and she pulled her hand back, bringing the ball with her, and then forward, letting go of the heavy ball.

It soared down the wooden lane, closer and closer to the pins, and then it crashed through them. It was like everything was in slow motion as Olivia watched the pins drop one by one. When nine had fallen and there was only one left, she watched as it tipped over on its side.

_Strike!_

"Yes!" she hissed in celebration, whirling around to face Stiles with a huge smile on her face. "Did ya see that, sweetcheeks?"

Stiles smiled goofily, his heart racing like it usually did when she called him by that pet name. "Sure did," as she plopped back down into her seat, he said lowly, "Hey, wanna make this interesting?"

Olivia quirked an eyebrow at him. "How interesting?"

"Well, if you win this game, we can go to my place and…" he trailed off suggestively.

"And if you win?"

"We got to my place and…"

"Hmm," Olivia pretended to think on his offer. She had wanted to have sex with Stiles pretty much as soon as they started dating. And, no matter how much he wasn't at fault for having sex with her cousin, it still made her blood simmer with jealousy—and yes, she realized that jealousy was not a reason to have sex with anyone, but considering she loved Stiles, she didn't think it was a big deal. "all right, fine. We have a deal."

The deal was a win-win situation, so, although she lost the game—by a whopping fifty points—she also won. Next thing she knew, she was up against the door to Stiles' bedroom, her legs around his hips, and her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

Their tongues were clashing together as Stiles removed her blouse and then shrugged off his own shirt. Olivia gasped as he pulled back from their kiss and kissed his way down her neck, sucked on her collarbone, and licked a trail down into her cleavage. The sounds that came from Stiles, and the erection pressing in between her thighs was only making Olivia crazier.

She arched her back, pushing her chest into him. "_Stiles_."

Her breathless gasp coaxed him into a slight frenzy. He shifted his grip on her so she wouldn't fall and hurried over to his bed, all the while frantically kissing and nipping from her cleavage up to the back of her ear. They both clumsily fell on the bed, with Stiles on top of Olivia, and continued their groping.

Olivia was so ready for this. She was ready to give herself over to Stiles completely, physically and emotionally.

She choked on a gasp as Stiles rolled his hips against hers, a small burst of pleasure that made her limbs tingle roaming through her body. Her flimsy shorts and thin panties, not to mention Stiles' khaki pants, did nothing to hide his erection from her—not that she wanted it to.

"So fucking hot…" Stiles' fingers tickled down her stomach and went to the waistband of her shorts, undoing the zipper and the tie around her waist. "Imma make you feel so good…Fill you up…God, so fucking sexy…Love you so much, baby…"

Olivia moaned at his words, unashamed to say that she loved when Stiles rambled on and on when they did anything sexual. She was fond of his rambling in day-to-day life, of course, but when they were in the heat of the moment and he was losing control of his lust, there was something special about that.

"Love you."

"I know you do," Stiles managed to undo her shorts and slid them down her legs, with her underwear following shortly after. He wasted no time in ducking his head between her legs, firmly licking her wet slit with a flat tongue. Olivia gasped and bucked her hips, causing him to hold her down. "You like that?"

Despite the pleasure coursing through her veins as his tongue played with her clit, Olivia couldn't help but grimace at his words. "Yeah, when you say it like that, it's kinda creepy."

Stiles popped his head away from her while slipping two fingers into her pussy. "Noted," he confirmed with a laugh. Olivia's respondent laugh was cut off with a moan as his index and middle fingers explored her, pressing down on that one sweet spot that he hadn't found before.

"Oh, my God, Stiles," she breathed, blinding splaying her hand forward and into his brown locks. "So, so good."

Stiles, who had brought his head back to core, kissed the inside of her right thigh. "You gonna cum for me?"

"No," Olivia shook her head and sat up slightly, determined to wait until he was inside of her.

Stiles backed off, knowing that consent was important, even if she had been into only a second before. He sighed in relief when she grabbed at his belt, unbuckling it swiftly. He scrambled to unbuckle his khakis and slid them off, along with his boxer briefs.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stiles breathed heavily, his head rolling back when her fingers wrapped themselves around his cock.

"I'm sure," Olivia paused to press a hot kiss to his lips. "I love you and I want this. I want _you_."

Stiles' beautiful brown eyes widened slightly. "Holy shit, I love you," he quickly pulled her into another kiss, sweetly cupping her jaw with a light grasp. "Okay," he said when they pulled away, both of them breathing heavily. "I need a condom. Condom, condom, condom…"

Olivia watched in amusement as he repeated the word over and over again as he reached for his bedside table, opening the drawer, and digging around for a condom. He whooped triumphantly when he successfully found one, making her giggle.

"Do you want me to…?" Olivia asked, awkwardly gesturing to his dick. "I mean, I can…"

"Yes, yes, absolutely," Stiles nodded enthusiastically. He handed her the condom, "Here ya go."

With shaky hands, Olivia grabbed the small foil package and carefully opened it. She fumbled lightly as she slid it onto Stiles' cock but nevertheless, Stiles seemed to enjoy it, so she did too. She made sure it was on right—she had Lydia to thank for this knowledge; that day in their house was very, very awkward—and smiled up at Stiles when it was ready to go.

There was a little pain at insertion, but Stiles had successfully gotten Olivia worked up and relaxed so it didn't hurt as much as all her friends had told her it did. It actually felt nice despite the slight ache between her legs.

Then, when Stiles was sure she was okay to keep going, the thrusting started. And Olivia was pretty sure this was the best feeling that her body has ever experienced. It was _good_. Like, stretching after waking up from a nice nap or enjoying a nice pizza, but better. With the added sounds of Stiles' pleasure, she was sure that this was what heaven was supposed to be like.

It wasn't hot sex like you would see in a porn video or even a big screen blockbuster. It was awkward and weird but it didn't matter to Olivia or Stiles. Their sex was special because they loved each other. That's all that mattered—either way, though, it was good.

Their hips rolled together, over and over again, while their mouths worked over each other's skin, lips attached to necks, jaws, and breasts with nibbles here and there. Soon—_a little too soon,_ Stiles thought—Stiles began to waver, his orgasm hitting him like a storm.

"Shit, Livvy," he gasped, trying to hold on for her. "I think I'm gonna cum."

Olivia hummed, tilting her head back against Stiles' pillow. "Mmm, me too."

Stiles sucked in a deep breath and ducked his head, placing open-mouthed kisses to her neck and behind her ear. As a current went down his spine, he snaked one hand down to her pussy and rubbed her clit, earning himself a pleased moan that made him curse loudly.

Olivia pulled Stiles into a kiss as they came together, moaning into each other's lips.

After Stiles took care of the condom, he plopped on his bed and let Olivia rest her head on his bare chest. He pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Olivia returned. "That was good, by the way?"

"Yeah?" Stiles huffed out a small laugh. "Just good?"

Olivia clicked her tongue. "Really good?"

"Eh…"

"Great," she giggled, sitting up on her elbow to kiss him. "Really great. Fantastic. Amazing."

"I like amazing," Stiles joked and pulled her into another kiss. "You were amazing."

"We're amazing."

"I like the way you think, Livvy."

One more kiss turned to two more kisses and soon, that turned into making out before they were ready for another round. Unfortunately, before they started to get really heated, Stiles' phone rang. It was Scott.

"What?" Stiles snapped at his best friend, frustrated that Scott was getting in the way of getting laid again.

"_Are you in the middle of something?"_ he could hear the smugness in Scott's voice.

"Yes, so I'm gonna hang up now—"

"_Wait_!"

"What?"

"_Two doctors went missing tonight_," Scott rushed out.

Stiles sat up, pulling away from Olivia, who was kissing her way down his chest. "Seriously?"

"_Seriously_," Scott confirmed_. "I think it might be more sacrifices. Can you come to the hospital?"_

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be there soon," Stiles told him. "See ya."

"_Bye_."

"Let me guess," Olivia sighed as she laid back down next to him. "Something bad happened and it has to do with supernatural nonsense."

"You'd be right," Stiles rolled off the bed and started getting dressed. "Two more people were taken at the hospital and Scott thinks it's more sacrifices. I told him I'd meet him. Wanna come?"

Olivia got out of bed, starting to get dressed as well. "I think I'll go home," she answered him. "You'll be careful, right?"

"Of course," once his shirt was properly on, he walked over to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetcheeks," Olivia returned the sentiment and kissed his cheek. "I'll lock the door behind me."

"Thanks, babe."

Olivia shook her head. _Damn those stupid pet names_—then again, she did start it. "No."

Stiles chuckled. "All right."

Stiles got to the hospital a whole half-hour later, due to the heavy traffic that was caused by the storm and a car accident. When he got there, there were already several police cruisers packed into the parking lot, as well as numerous ambulances. He met up with Scott, and then the two of them went to talk to Melissa and Noah who were standing by one of the missing doctor's car.

"Hang on, hang on," Noah shook his head, confused, after Scott, Stiles, and Melissa told him what had happened with the two missing doctors. "They were both in the car?"

"No, Dad," Stiles corrected him. "they're trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay? Two doctors, both gone."

"So whose car is this?" Noah pointed to the vehicle next to them.

"Dr. Hilyard," Melissa told him. "the on-call doctor. The ER attending is the one that never made it in."

"Let me just focus on getting your story first, all right?"

Melissa nodded. "Yeah."

Noah turned to Stiles and Scott, who were listening carefully. "Boys, give us a second."

Stiles gave his dad an annoyed look—he really needed to get any information that Noah got from Melissa in order to help with his own private supernatural investigation—but backed off anyway. He and Scott walked only a few feet away before they started their own conversation.

"There are definitely sacrifices, right?" Scott asked anxiously.

Stiles nodded, quickly glancing back at his dad and Melissa. "Yeah. It's the one Deaton mentioned. Healers."

"What about Danny? He threw up mistletoe," Scott reminded him. "That's not a coincidence. And if he hadn't been with Ethan, he probably would've died. Danny's not a healer."

Stiles shook his head, at a loss. He didn't know how Danny fit into the equation. "I…" he trailed off when he saw that his dad was taking a call. "Can you hear that?"

Scott looked over at his mom and Noah, listening. After a few seconds, he turned back to Stiles. "They found a body."

Olivia was only a little exhausted.

After her date with Stiles—and the little private time afterwards—she had gone to Derek's loft. When she got there, Derek and Cora were training, so she joined them, knowing that she needed to learn self-defense. She wouldn't be able to win against a werewolf, but if some creepy dude came up to her in the middle of the night, she would be able to defend herself. Sometimes she wished she got more of Peter's werewolf powers—enhanced strength wouldn't be too bad.

After training she went up to the bedroom that she now shared with Cora, but she didn't sleep well at all. When she wasn't busy worrying about Stiles, Scott, and the missing people, she had a horrible feeling. It felt like something was going to go wrong at any moment. From her own experiences, she knew to trust that feeling. Her abilities knew what they were doing.

Because of the bad feeling and the lack of sleep, she was cranky. The fact that Ms. Blake was substituting Mr. Harris' physics class didn't help—especially when the woman was sleeping with her cousin.

The alarm blaring throughout the loft startled her awake from her position on the couch, where she had been taking only a little nap. She got to her feet as Derek rang over to the button under the alarm, pressing it so the ringing would stop.

Cora came running out of the kitchen, her eyes going straight to the windows. "What does that mean?"

Olivia and Derek turned to see the same triskele that had been on the old Hale House's door. The alpha pack's logo. Olivia cursed under her breath and bit the inside of her cheek; this couldn't mean anything good.

Derek gave Olivia and Cora a grim look. "It means they're coming. Tonight."

More than a little anxious about what tonight could bring, Olivia grabbed her phone. She had to contact the rest of the pack.

An hour later, Olivia and Cora sat side-by-side on the couch, as Isaac and Boyd waltzed into the loft. Almost as soon as the sliding door shut behind them, Derek came down from the bathroom, freshly showered and clothed.

"Go back to school," he scolded them, sitting on one of the lower steps of his spiral staircase. "You too, Ollie."

"We can't," Olivia replied as she got to her feet and stood next to Isaac and Cora made her way to Boyd's side, all four of them staring at their alpha with firm eyes. "I passed out this morning."

"I have a migraine," Isaac added with a small smirk before pointing to Boyd. "and Boyd, here, has explosive diarrhea."

Body rolled his eyes at Isaac before addressing Derek. "We're here to protect you."

"You're here to protect me?" Derek huffed in amusement, standing up in order to make his way over to them. "Well, I'm in trouble then."

"Ollie texted in the group message and Boyd came up with a plan," Cora informed her brother.

Boyd nodded. "Yeah, I thought about the time Gerard had me and Erica locked up, tied up with electrical wires pushing current through us," he dropped the duffel bag he was carrying and unzipped it, pulling out a large coil of electrical wires. "I was wondering how we could do something like that, but on a bigger scale."

"It's not the greatest plan," Isaac commented while Olivia nodded in agreement and Boyd shrugged. "but it's the best we can come up with right now."

"In a pool of electrified water, it can take up to fifty milliamps to kill a normal human," Olivia explained while Boyd walked over to the brick wall that, for some reason, had a hose hookup. He picked up the hose that was already attached and turned the knob so the water would start up. "Incidentally, that's less than the power it takes to turn on a light bulb."

"That's comforting," Derek said dryly.

"If we disable the circuit interrupter in the building's electrical room, the current will keep coming," Boyd explained the rest of his plan. "and anyone who steps foot in here will get a pretty shocking surprise."

"Especially someone who's barefoot," Cora smirked, thinking of Kali and her weird habit of walking everywhere without shoes.

Isaac cocked his head. "Do you think she doesn't wear shoes because she wants to intimidate people or because shoes are uncomfortable with the long toe-claws?

Olivia, Derek, Cora, and Boyd all turned to him with pursed lips and flat gazes. Was that really the question to ask when they were going up against the alpha pack…again?

"Stiles," Stiles looked over at Scott as he hissed his name, an eyebrow quirked curiously. "Dude, where's Liv? This is her favorite class."

"Apparently Derek needed her help," Stiles rolled his eyes; he was still not Derek's biggest fan. "She also said something about not wanting Ms. Blake to ruin her favorite class."

Scott scoffed in amusement. "I can't believe Harris' class was her favorite."

"She's a science nerd, what do you expect?" Stiles commented. "Oh, I forgot to tell you—"

"Good morning," Ms. Blake walked into the classroom and set the physics textbook on the desk that once belonged to Mr. Harris. "As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing—" she paused awkwardly and then corrected herself. "I mean, sick. Anyway, I'm filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place."

Stiles and Scott stared at her blankly, just like the rest of their classmates.

"Okay, so let's get started, shall we?"

As Ms. Blake turned her back to the class in order to write on the chalkboard, Stiles leaned closer to Scott's seat in order to continue what he was going to say before he was interrupted. "My dad said that the ER attending wasn't strangled but he did die from asphyxiation," he said. "They just don't know how."

"Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?" Scott whispered back.

"I don't know," Stiles sincerely doubted that the doctor was still alive, but he didn't want to admit that to Scott. Scott was much more optimistic than he was. "but Scott, there's got to be at least twenty other doctors in that hospital, at least, you know? Any one of them could be next."

Before Scott could reply, his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He ducked his head under the desk to answer the call. "Hey, Doc. Sorry, I'm in class right now. Can I call you back?" he paused in order to let Deaton speak. In the next few seconds, he stiffened up anxiously. "Doc? Doc, Doc, Doc, what's happening?"

The call seemingly ended. Scott quickly turned to Stiles, his eyes wide and frantic. "Deaton's been taken."

Stiles frowned. "Shit."

Stiles arrived at the veterinarian clinic midway through Scott's statement that his dad and Deputy Tara were taking. He sat by his best friend for support, knowing how much Deaton meant to him, and stayed quiet so Noah and Tara could get their investigation underway.

When Scott had finished explaining that Deaton had called him during physics class, Noah patted him on the shoulder. "All right, we're doing everything we can," he said comfortingly. "Right now, the best thing you can do is go back to school."

Scott nodded silently in agreement but when Noah and Tara walked away, he grabbed Stiles' arm and gestured to the room where the cats were kept. Hoping not to catch Noah or Tara's attention, they quietly made their way into the room and closed the door firmly.

"We have to tell him," Scott proposed immediately.

Stiles blinked in shock. "You mean, like, tell him, tell him, or something else that isn't telling him what I think you want to tell him?"

Scott gave him a deadpan look. "You know what I mean."

"You remember how your mom reacted?" Stiles needlessly reminded him. "She didn't look you in the eye for, like, a week."

"And she got over it," Scott countered. "and it actually made us closer."

Stiles pressed his lips together and glanced out the window in the door; his dad looked absolutely flustered as he conversed with Tara about the case. "I don't know, dude. I mean look at him," Stiles sighed and nodded out the window. "Come on, he's completely overwhelmed as it is."

"He's overwhelmed because he has no clue what's happening," Scott stated empathetically. "He's got people dying in his town, the town that he's supposed to protect, and it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening."

Stiles got that. He understood that more than anyone because Noah was his dad. He was the one who had to watch him almost pull his hair out in frustration over the cases that had to do with something supernatural. He's the one who to pull the bottle of whiskey away from his dad when the stress got to be too much. The thing was, was knowing about the supernatural that much better? It wasn't safe, either way. And all Stiles wanted to do was protect his only family member he had left.

"He's gonna find out sooner or later," Scott added while Stiles hesitated.

"Yeah, but is now really the right time?"

"What if not telling him now gets someone else killed?"

"What if telling him gets him killed, huh?" Stiles retorted, growing a little frustrated. "I mean, okay, look, I get that Deaton's been like a father to you. I get that, okay? But this is my…" he hesitated and licked his lips, his frustration growing into fear. "this is my actual father. I can't—I can't lose both of my parents, all right? Not both of them."

He couldn't think of anything worse than his dad getting hurt or killed. And what if knowing about Beacon Hills' supernatural secrets did that? It scared the shit out of him.

Scott nodded sympathetically. "You're right."

Stiles sighed, his mind racing between what was right, what wasn't right, and what scared him. "No, I'm not," he finally decided. "I'm not right. I'll tell him."

"I'll help you," Scott promised.

Stiles sighed once more before he and Scott went to leave the cat clinic. As the door shut behind them, both of them were surprised to see Ms. Morrell talking to Noah and Tara.

"Please, whatever you need, however you can help find my brother."

Stiles and Scott glanced at each other, both of them thinking the same thing, _Brother?_

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" Noah asked; Ms. Morrell nodded and Noah and Tara left the clinic to converse outside.

As soon as they were out of hearing shot, Ms. Morrell stalked over to Stiles and Scott. "Okay, listen closely, both of you," she said sternly. "No sheriff, deputy, or detective is going to be able to find him."

"You don't have to ask us for help," Scott told her.

"Actually, I'm trying to help you," Ms. Morrell replied. "because if you're going to find my brother, then you need to use the one person who might actually have an ability to seek out the supernatural."

Once again, Scott and Stiles turned to one another, sighing in realization, "Lydia."

Olivia stomped through the school hallways with Cora by her side. When Stiles had called her about Dr. Deaton and how Lydia might be able to find him using whatever abilities she had, she and Cora had left the loft and made her way to the school to find Lydia and meet up with Stiles. Unfortunately for them, Lydia was not answering her phone, which hardly happened.

That and the fact that it happened to be Lydia's free period, Olivia already knew what was going on. Her cousin was with Aiden, the asshole alpha, and they were likely to be making out in Coach's office. She knew it was their usual place but one of Lydia's newer spots since she didn't want Olivia to know that she was hooking up with the enemy.

"Are you absolutely sure she'll be with Aiden?" Cora checked with her younger cousin.

"I'm sure," Olivia said confidently. "She and Jackson used the supply closet at the old school but they're locked all the time now. Teacher offices and the bathrooms are the only doors unlocked all day and Lydia wouldn't hook up with anyone in the bathroom."

"So how do you know they're in the coach's office?"

"Because Coach has his lunch break during Lydia's free period and his office is huge," Olivia answered. "He got an upgrade when they won the regional championship, courtesy of Stiles."

"Huh," Cora hummed. "and Jackson was the kanima, right?"

"Unfortunately."

Once they got closer to Coach's office, Cora pulled the fire alarm to get Aiden away from Lydia (Olivia knew all about Lydia's 'leave-before-me' policy). They waited until he left the office before walking up to the door. They were just in time; Lydia opened the door, her purse over her shoulder and her books in her arms.

"You don't have very good taste in guys, do you?" Cora asked her.

Lydia scoffed at Cora, not liking her attitude, but then faced Olivia with an apologetic look on her face. "Liv…"

"Honestly, we don't have time to get into this right now," Olivia cut her off. She couldn't waste the energy on an argument when Dr. Deaton and Derek were in danger.

"We have time for a statement though," Cora commented and narrowed her eyes at Lydia. "Derek would like to kindly ask you to stop seeing Aiden. Which means that if I catch you with him again, I'm not going to pull a fire alarm. I'm going to pull your tongue out of your head."

Olivia grimaced at Cora's words and went to say something, but Lydia was already snapping back at Cora. "Sweetheart, my last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard, so I think I can handle a werewolf."

"Enough, both of you," Olivia spoke up, irritated with the both of them. She felt betrayed by Lydia because Lydia knew that the alpha pack had killed Erica, wanted Derek dead, and wanted her for whatever reason. And while she admired Cora's no-nonsense attitude that all Hales shared, Lydia was her best friend and more of a sister than a cousin and she didn't like anyone talking to her like that, even if it was Cora.

"Did I walk into a cat fight?" Stiles walked into the office from the door that led to boys' locker room.

"Stiles," Olivia gave him a look of disapproval.

"What?" he blinked innocently before clearing his throat and going back on track. "Okay, Lydia, long story short, we need you to help us find Deaton."

Lydia looked between Olivia and Stiles, confused. "What happened to Deaton?"

"He was taken by the darach," Olivia informed her and then recalled everything that Stiles had told her. "Apparently, Ms. Morrell is Dr. Deaton's sister and she told Stiles and Scott that you could potentially help find him."

Lydia scoffed in disbelief. "She said that?"

"Yes," Stiles nodded shortly. "so, we need to get started.

A couple minutes later, Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, and Cora were set up in Coach's empty classroom. Stiles pulled out a long flat box and Olivia sighed when she got a good look at what was on the label.

"A Ouija board?" Lydia asked flatly as he set the board down on the desk she was sitting at.

Stiles nodded and placed the planchette on the board in the correct position. "Also called a spirit board and it's worth a shot."

"A shot in the dark," Lydia mumbled in distaste.

Stiles gave her an annoyed look. "Could you just try it, please? Let's not forget who this is for: Scott's boss, the guy who has saved our collective asses on more than one occasion."

"Okay, should we all do this?" Cora pointed at the board.

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed. The four of them all placed their hands on the planchette and closed their eyes while he asked, "Where's Dr. Deaton?"

Olivia waited patiently for the planchette to move but she didn't really expect it to. Honestly, she agreed with Lydia when it came down to trying these various activities—honestly, it seemed like a waste of time. But, if it helped Stiles and Scott feel better, she would do it. And it wasn't like she didn't want to find Dr. Deaton. Anything could help at the moment, since they weren't exactly knowledgeable about his whereabouts.

Lydia opened her eyes when she felt Olivia, Stiles, and Cora staring at her. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna answer?" Stiles prompted.

"Oh, I don't know the answer," Lydia stated. "I thought we were asking some sort of spirit."

Stiles looked over at Olivia in disbelief while Cora asked, "Well, do you know any spirits?"

Lydia stared at her for a moment before turning to Olivia. "Is she for real?"

Olivia sighed and pulled her hands away from the planchette. "Yes, she is," she answered her cousin and glanced at Stiles. "Let's move on."

"Right, okay," Stiles nodded and hurriedly put away the Ouija board. He then pulled out a set of keys from his jeans. "Okay, these are Deaton's keys for the clinic," he told Lydia. "Close your eyes. I'm gonna put them in your hand and then we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's psychometry."

Lydia pursed her lips and pointed at him. "I'm not a psychic."

"You're something!" Stiles burst out in frustration.

"Okay," Olivia grabbed the keys from him and held them out in front of Lydia. The redhead sighed, closed her eyes, and held her hand out expectantly; when Olivia placed them in her hands, she jumped. "What?"

Lydia opened her eyes. "They're cold."

Stiles' eye twitched in irritation. "Lydia, could you concentrate?" he snapped at her. "We're trying to save lives here, for the love of God."

Olivia put her hand on his back and started rubbing it up and down, knowing that it relaxed him when they were alone together. That was for his anxiety, though. She didn't know if it would work with his temper. As Lydia closed her eyes to concentrate, she was surprised to see and feel Stiles relax at her touch.

"Do you see something, Lyds?" Olivia asked when Lydia's eyebrows furrowed.

Lydia opened her eyes once more and shook her head. "Nothing."

Stiles grabbed Dr. Deaton's keys from Lydia and shoved them back in his pocket. While he got out a notebook and a pencil, Olivia paused. The whispers were starting up again, which worried the hell out of her.

_Scott, Scott, Scott…He's with him, the Alpha of Alphas…Death, Destroyer of Worlds…Scott, Scott, Scott…_

Feeling an overwhelming urge to walk, Olivia excused herself from the others and left Coach's classroom. She wandered the halls as Scott's name grew louder and louder in her head, following her instincts toward the music hallway. She stopped by the orchestra room when Scott's name was being yelled at her; she wasn't surprised to see that Scott and Deucalion were dueling it out inside.

She entered the room just as Deucalion stabbed Scott in the shoulder with the blade at the end of his seeing cane. She focused on pushing calming waves out of her mind, raising her hands in order to visual actual waves making their way toward Deucalion.

"Aw," Deucalion straightened up and but the cap back on his cane. "I know you would come, Olivia. It's nice to see you and Scott, here, working together. You show promising improvement."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. "What's going on?"

"Scott and I made ourselves a deal," Deucalion answered. "Unfortunately, even with your help, I won," he turned his face down to Scott, who was kneeling on the floor, his hand pressed to his wounded shoulder. "Impressive, but you know I'm not the one slashing up innocent people, praying to ancient gods or gathering herbs, or whatever the hell druids are supposed to do."

"I am part of the pack that wants Derek dead, though," he continued, his head rising to meet Olivia's gaze head-on. "Kali is coming for him, so there's a difficult choice you're about to face because someone is going to die tonight. Whether that's Derek or Deaton, that's up to you two."

"Neither of them are dying," Olivia said firmly, not feeling as brave as her statement suggested. "Where's Deaton?"

Deucalion shook his head. "I'll give you a very important clue," he offered instead. "Let the current guide you."

Olivia stiffened as Deucalion passed her to leave the orchestra room, thinking about his clue. Once he left, she rushed over to Scott and pulled him to his feet, glancing at him worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm healing," he assured her. "Come on, we have to go get the others."

"Okay," Olivia agreed, locking her arm with his incase he needed some support. "Did he tell you anything else?"

"No, but I figured something out," Scott told her as they hurried down the hallways leading back to Coach's classroom. "Last night, Danny wasn't supposed to be a sacrifice. I think he was just a distraction."

Olivia quirked an eyebrow. "So, he was a target. The darach didn't plan on him for a sacrifice."

"Exactly."

As they stopped outside Coach's classroom, they heard Cora ask Stiles, "Isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?"

"Genius, yes," Lydia confirmed. "Psychic, no. Honestly, I don't know why you're even bothering with me anyway. I mean, especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."

Olivia smiled to herself; maybe these little tests Stiles insisted on did work a little.

"What?" Stiles spoke rapidly. "Why Danny?"

Olivia and Scott entered the room. "Because, last night, he was a target," Scott spoke up. "But he wasn't a sacrifice."

While Olivia sat in the Jeep's passenger seat and waited for Stiles to come out of the hospital where he was supposed to be talking to Danny, she thought about Deaton's clue. It was a little vague but one thing that popped out in her mind was Boyd's plan for Derek's loft.

"…_Gerard had me and Erica locked up, tied up with electrical wires pushing current through us…"_ Boyd had said.

Deucalion had said 'current'. He practically emphasized it. What if he was referencing Boyd's plan? How he would know about it, she didn't know. But Deucalion and the alpha pack always seemed one step ahead of them, they had been before. What if that was what he was hinting at.

But, then again, he was referring to Dr. Deaton and where the darach might have taken him. So, whatever it was that had Danny as the Darach's target, that could be the missing piece they needed. Hopefully, Stiles would figure it out.

And figure it out, he did. After ten minutes or so, Stiles came rushing out of the hospital and joined the Jeep with Olivia, Lydia, and Cora—the latter two in the backseat. He had a packet of papers in his hand and Olivia recognized the cover page from when they were peer reviewing reports in physics class.

"Why do you have Danny's essay?" she asked and then paused, her mind racing as she recalled the topic of the report. "Oh, my God. Telluric currents."

All right, so Danny was the piece they were missing.

"Exactly," Stiles confirmed as he started up the Jeep. "We're gonna meet Scott at the animal clinic."

They pulled up to Dr. Deaton's clinic only moments later, where Scott's motorbike was already parked. The four of them shuffled out of the Jeep and hurriedly made their way into the building, where Scott was waiting for them in the exam room.

"Okay, so, what does this kid's homework have to do with finding Deaton?" Cora asked as Stiles quickly spread out the map on Mr. Argent's desk that he had taken a photo of and printed out while he was waiting for them to arrive.

"Because it's not just homework," Olivia answered. "It's a report on geomagnetic fields. They flow through the earth and they can even be affected by lunar phases."

"Look at this," Stiles pointed at the second page of Danny's report, where Mr. Harris' familiar writing was sketched out in red ink. "This is a note from Harris on Danny's proposal."

"'_I strongly advise you to choose another subject_,'" Lydia read the note. "_'The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudo-science. Not suitable for class._'"

"Harris wasn't just a sacrifice," Scott realized. "He knew something."

"And check this out, Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map. Danny had one too," he unfolded the map that Danny provided with his report, spreading it out to the other map. "Danny marked all the telluric currents, okay?"

"Beacon Hills is actually a beacon," Olivia took over, Stiles nodded frantically at her words. "There's so much energy flowing through the earth around town. It's insanely cool—"

"Keep on subject," Stiles interjected, knowing that she could get a little enthusiastic about science. Most of the time it was adorable and one of his favorite things about her, but it just wasn't the time.

"Right," Olivia nodded.

"Guys, look," Scott hovered Mr. Argent's map over Danny's. "they match. Look, there's three places, all right?" he grabbed a marker and started circling areas on Danny's map. "Where they're kidnapped and where they're body is found…"

"Look," Lydia pointed at the map where Scott had drawn a circle right on a telluric current. "that's right on the telluric current."

"So, maybe where he was sacrificed is somewhere in between."

"Let me see that," Stiles took the pen from Scott and started making more circles. "You said there's six more bodies to be found. Deaton's one of them. It's got to be somewhere in between, right?"

His pen wandered around the map, looking for a specific location; Cora reached out and wrapped her hand around his. "Stop," she ordered, moving his hand to the spot she had located on the map. Lydia glanced at Olivia as she glared at their joined hands. "He's the in the vault. He's in the _same_ vault."

As Stiles, Lydia, Scott, and Cora gathered up the report and maps to take with them, Olivia was suddenly overcome with dizziness. She braced herself on the stainless-steel counter so that she wouldn't fall.

_He's gonna die…Derek, Derek, Derek…Derek's gonna die…Kali's going to kill him…GET TO HIM…DEREK's GOING TO DIE!_

She didn't look up, unable to focus on anything else, when Lydia called for Stiles and Scott to stop. "Guys, hold on."

"Lydia, we don't have time to wait."

Lydia glared at Scott. "Liv's having an episode."

At that moment, Olivia pulled her hands away from the table and gripped the sides of her head, squeezing tightly. "Oh, my God, Derek," she whimpered, distraught. "Derek!"

Cora rushed over to her side and pulled her hands away from her head so she wouldn't hurt herself. When her phone vibrated, she only used one hand to look at the message. "It's Boyd," she told the others. "The plan didn't work. They cut the power."

"_Derek_!"

"It's just like he said," Scott whispered in realization before raising his voice and addressing Stiles, "Go, I can save Deaton myself."

"All right," Stiles could barely look away from Olivia, he was so worried for her. "Come on, guys."

The trip to Derek's loft was absolutely silent, all of them worried about what was going on at the loft. Halfway there, Olivia came out of her trance and urged Stiles to hurry up, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes were still purple; it seemed like she was still having an episode but had gained some control over herself.

Per Isaac's instructions, the four of them rushed to the building's electrical room in order to turn on the auxiliary power.

"Okay, what do we do?" Stiles asked, staring up at the numerous large switches.

"We pull them," Cora answered as she texted Isaac their whereabouts. "We pull all of them."

Olivia whimpered as a rush of _something_ went through her body. She took off to the stairs as whispers flooded her head, warning her of danger for her pack.

_Derek, Boyd, Derek…Boyd, Boyd, Boyd… _

She was at the third-floor landing, the others not far behind her, when an absolutely crushing weight landed in her lungs. She stopped in her tracks and held her hand to her chest, a screaming ripping out of her throat, "_BOYD_!"

A sob escaped her lips as a horrible feeling came upon her. She couldn't describe it, but she just knew that Boyd was dying. No, he wasn't dying. She knew he was dead. Boyd was dead. She started running again when Cora passed her, dreading what she would see when she made it to the loft.

She didn't expect to see Ms. Blake outside the door, being held away from the water-filled loft by Isaac but it was the least of her concerns. When she spotted Boyd's body in the water in front of Derek, she ran past them and toward Derek. She dropped to her knees next to him, water splashing her, and reached toward Boyd, who was only inches away.

_He's really gone. Oh, my God, Boyd's dead. He's dead, he's dead, he's dead…_

Her cries bordered on hysterical as she fell into Derek, letting him wrap his arms around her while he stared blankly at his beta's body, too shocked to do anything else.

The splashing behind her didn't take her focus away from Boyd's body, but she briefly felt Stiles wrap his arms around her and pulling her into his lap. She felt like she was drowning as she turned away from Boyd's body and buried her head in his chest.

Another pack member gone, another hole in her heart.


	32. The Tragedy of Derek and Paige

**[3x08; Visionary]**

Olivia hadn't been home in two days. Fortunately, Natalie didn't ask any questions about her sudden desire to sleep over at Derek's house, and Lydia also covered for her when she did start to get suspicious. She was glad that she could stay with Cora, Isaac, and even Peter while mourning Boyd. She and Cora supported each other through their loss of a packmate and friend, while Peter, surprisingly, took care of them.

Honestly, Olivia wasn't doing so great in the aftermath of Boyd's death. With Erica's death, it didn't affect her as much—she had a suspicion is was because Erica and Boyd had left Derek's pack at that point, and after Erica died, Boyd joined the pack again which led to a better connection. But's Boyd's death really hurt. Losing a pack member really did feel like losing a part of yourself, and the added guilt about helping with the plan that eventually was a part of Boyd's death didn't add any relief.

After all that Boyd had gone through, he deserved way better than what he got.

But grief wasn't the only thing going on in her mind. Olivia was the anchor of the pack and that meant that she had to live up to the name. Her mind was constantly distracted, bouncing back in forth from Isaac's mind, to Cora, and then all the way to Derek, who was grieving by himself in the distillery just outside of town. They weren't in danger of turning because of their sadness but she was able to help anyway, sending out calming vibes through the tethers that connected them to her.

Currently, Isaac was the hardest to calm down. Due to his upbringing, he was more emotional than Derek or Cora were and he had been friends with Boyd since elementary school. She kept close to him, wanting to help him however she could, and after a night full of restlessness, he was finally napping on the couch, his feet laid in her lap.

"…Peter brought Derek to a cellar in the woods," Cora was finishing up the story of when Peter and Derek had to hide from the Argent hunters years ago. "They were there for two days, waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us—hide and heal."

"Okay, so is two days standard then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" Stiles asked Cora from his seat next to Olivia on the couch.

Despite his impatience about Derek and his leave of absence, having Stiles at the loft helped Olivia more than he could know. It was like he was her anchor. He gave her strength to stay strong for the pack.

Cora turned away from the rain-splattered window and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do you care?"

"Why do I care?" Stiles repeated sarcastically. "Let's see…because over the last few weeks, my best friend tried to kill himself, my girlfriend has been going crazy trying to keep all the werewolves calm, Scott's boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by the alphas…I—do you want me to keep going?" he raised an eyebrow at her. "'Cause I can, all right? For, like, an _hour_—"

"All right, Stiles," Olivia murmured, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You think Derek can do anything about that?" Cora asked grumpily.

"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah."

Olivia wished Stiles would give Derek some slack. Yeah, Derek needed to step up and help out, but he was also going through something horrible. He had just lost two betas, one which he killed with his own claws—which wasn't his fault, but Derek wouldn't see it that way—and the alpha pack was also trying to kill him. That was more than the average person could take. Maybe Stiles wasn't very sympathetic because he couldn't feel what Derek was going through, but Olivia could. And if she was going through what Derek was at the moment, she wouldn't be able to get out of bed each day.

"I don't know," Cora mused, walking over to the table full of books. "There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."

_That's because you skipped out and made everyone think you were dead_, Olivia remarked mentally. And Derek shouldered the guilt of the Hale House fire—even though Kate Argent raped and manipulated him into giving out the house's whereabouts and members of the pack—taking care of himself, visiting Olivia every few weeks with Laura, taking care of Peter's medical care, Laura's death, and Peter's time as a crazy alpha—not to mention everything that went on before the fire, including what happened with Paige.

"What was he like?" Stiles asked.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs caught their attention. Peter slowly descended from the second floor and answered, "A lot like Scott, actually," he walked over to stand by Cora as he elaborated. "A lot like most teenagers—unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really onto to other teenagers."

"So what happened?" Stiles looked at Peter expectantly. "What changed him?"

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men," Peter answered. "A girl."

Stiles scoffed. "You're telling me some girl broke his little heart?" he asked in disbelief. "That's why Derek is the way he is?"

"She wasn't just any girl," Olivia gently picked up Isaac's feet and got up, laying them back down on the couch. She wandered over to her father and cousin, Stiles following shortly after.

"Mm," Peter nodded in agreement before addressing her and Cora, "Do you remember Derek before he was an alpha and had blue eyes?" Olivia nodded; it had only been half a year since Derek became an alpha. Peter turned to Stiles now. "Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Stiles shrugged, shaking his head. "I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."

"If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes," Peter declared. "You know the story, don't you, pumpkin?"

"Some of it," Olivia twisted her lips.

"I'll fill in in some places."

"Okay," Olivia inhaled deeply and started recalling everything that Derek had told her from that part of his life.

Derek was a sophomore when he met Paige Krasikeva. He was popular, one of the younger members of the varsity basketball team whilst being one of the stars. He _was_ different back then. Derek had a charming personality and he used to be one to tell jokes and make friends with everyone.

One day, while Derek was missing around with his friends in the hallway with a basketball, they disturbed Paige's cello practice. According to Derek, Paige was sassy and quick-witted despite her shy nature and when she stormed over to confront them, Derek was immediately intrigued. He showed off with the basketball, doing some tricks he had picked up on the court, and when Paige was unimpressed, Derek gave her an offer: if she could get the basketball away from him, he'd bring the ball and his friends elsewhere.

Paige took the dare, but was unable to get the basketball away from her. He happened to show off even more in the process. His cockiness unimpressed Paige and she ended up walking away. Still intrigued by her, he followed her back to the music room and apologized. She brushed him off, but it didn't discourage him; he ended up asking her name. After a little tack, in which Derek had to play a triangle for whatever reason, Paige ended up sharing her name with Derek.

"Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he?" Stiles asked when she came to a natural pause in the story. He pointed at Peter and added, "How old were you? How old are you now?"

"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think," Peter answered; Olivia's lips twitched as she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, that was frustratingly vague," Stiles sighed, exasperated, and turned to where Olivia and Cora were sitting. "I know Livvy's sixteen. How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"See, that's an answer," Stiles pointed at Cora. "That's how we answer people."

Cora burst his bubble, hiding her smirk. "Well, seventeen in how you'd measure in years."

"Are you serious?!"

"They're messing with you," Olivia told him with an amused smile. "Peter's thirty-five, Cora's seventeen, and Derek's twenty-five. He was sixteen when he was a sophomore."

"Okay, I take back my previous statement," Stiles gave her a grateful look as he threw his arm over her shoulders. "_That_ is how we answer someone."

"Says the king of sarcasm," she told him with a light laugh.

"Don't bring me into this," Stiles nudged her head with his own. "Okay, so, what happened to Derek and the cello girl?"

"Her name was Paige."

"Right," Stiles stated after Olivia corrected him. "What happened with Derek and Paige?"

"What do you think happened?" Peter raised his eyebrows at Stiles. "They were teenagers. One minute, it's '_I hate you, don't talk to me,_' and then the next minute, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes."

Olivia and Stiles glanced at one another; they knew what that was like.

Peter continued, narrowing his eyes at Stiles. He may not be overly protective of his daughter but he didn't want to know what she and her hormonal little boyfriend were getting up to in their private time. "Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."

Olivia turned away from Stiles to give her a father a questioning look. _Why on earth would he know Derek and Paige's make-out spot?_

"All right, hold up," Stiles interjected, thinking along the same lines as Olivia. "How do you know all this? You just said that they were alone."

Peter leaned forward at his seat next on the couch, bracing his elbows on his knees. "Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend, his closest confidante. That's how I know."

Peter filled in some of the blanks where Olivia hadn't known the details. Mostly, she didn't know about these because Derek either forgot or he didn't know what was going on behind the scenes.

One day, while Derek and Paige were having alone time in the distillery—the same distillery where Derek was hiding now—they had to leave because Derek caught the scent of some unknown werewolves. Peter explained that it wasn't just any random werewolves, but they happened to be three different packs—Ennis' pack, Kali's pack, and Deucalion's pack—along with the adults in the Hale pack. They had gathered together to discuss one of the werewolves in Ennis' pack who was murdered by the Argents.

The three packs argued with each other, mostly on Kali's side—which didn't surprise Olivia—until Laura spoke up about working together. Deucalion sided with the Hale pack—apparently he was a sort of peace keeper back in the day—especially when Talia Hale, the Hale pack's alpha and Derek's mother, stepped in. The four alphas discussed what they were going to do about the Argents, and Ennis insisted on war. He declared it with a swirl—the mark for vengeance.

"Our mark for vendetta," Peter, who had walked over to the steamed-over window, drew the swirl, much like he had down when he was an alpha.

"Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to, like, a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles commented, folding his fingers together while he watched Peter skeptically.

"It's not just revenge," Cora told him firmly. "Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. It's like you lose a limb."

Stiles looked over at Olivia for confirmation and visibly softened when she nodded in agreement with Cora. He unfolded his hands and took one of hers, squeezing it tightly. It was a silent apology, one that Olivia instantly forgive. How was he to know what it was like? He wasn't a werewolf or, in her case, an anchor.

"They wouldn't even let Ennis see the body," Peter informed them. "Some deputy had to escort him out of the hospital."

"I don't get it," Cora shook her head. "What does this have to do with Derek?"

"Everything," Peter turned away from the window and walked back over to them. "It's never just a single moment. It's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstances and I saw a profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. Peter wasn't just telling Derek's story now, he was elaborating. A lot. Derek had told her himself that it was Peter who gave him the idea to have Paige take the bite, not him. Peter was lying, manipulating himself into someone better than he was.

"Opportunity?" Stiles wondered. "To do what?"

"To always be with her," Peter told him. "The thing was, he had this constant fear. He was obsessing over it. Thinking about it all night, all day, always on his mind."

Although Peter gave Stiles and Cora his version of the story, Olivia knew better. Derek had told her how Peter had shown up to his school and spoke to him about Paige. Peter told him that Paige would run away from him if she found out lycanthropy and manipulated him into turning her so they could be together forever.

"I kept telling him not to do it," Peter said passionately; Olivia looked over at Stiles and Cora, hoping that they weren't falling for his shit. Luckily for her, she had a smart—and hot—boyfriend, who glanced at her and rolled his eyes, mocking Peter behind his back. "Every day the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became."

Having dramatically turned away from them, Peter faced them again. "You know teenagers," he acted like he was sad. "I bet he even blames me. He's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea."

Again, Peter gave his side of the story. He left out the fact that he had gone to Derek's basketball practice and told him about the werewolf who died in Ennis' pack. He spoke about the opportunity Derek had, where Ennis could turn Paige and she be in his pack.

After that, Peter moved on. He shared the story of how he, Laura, and Talia went to the animal clinic to meet up with Dr. Deaton, Deucalion, and his second-in-command. They spoke about Ennis and his frowned-upon decision to wage war against the Argent hunters. Deucalion wanted to extend a treaty of peace, but Talia and Dr. Deaton warned against it, citing that the Argents had a matriarchal chain in command and that Gerard Argent was a psychopath. Deucalion didn't listen to them, and instead set up a meeting between his pack and the Argents.

"Hold on," Stiles interrupted. "What's an emissary?"

"They go back to when werewolves just started shifting," Olivia explained. "It was thought that druids knew how to shapeshift and could help the werewolves turn back to their human form. They give the alpha advice, knowledge, and keep packs connected to their humanity."

"They're a secret in the pack, though," Cora added. "Sometimes only the alpha knows who the emissary is. We had no idea about Deaton."

"Or his sister, Morrell," Peter tacked on.

"She's an emissary, too?" Stiles raised his voice, totally shocked about Morrell. Olivia, herself, was shocked; she knew about Morrell being Deaton's sister, but she hadn't know that she was an emissary.

Peter nodded. "For the alpha pack."

Olivia's eyes widened in surprise while Stiles' voice became even louder. "Our guidance counselor?" he burst out; Olivia rubbed his back to bring him some comfort; the poor guy had spent an hour a week with Ms. Morrell since he started high school and he was bound to be betrayed. "Why the hell don't you people tell me any of this stuff, huh? I shared some really intimate details with her."

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora prompted, looking unimpressed with his outburst.

Stiles paused. "Actually, yeah."

"That's what they do," Peter reminded him. "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia."

Stiles sighed in frustration, just wanting to get the rest of the story over with. It wasn't that he was bored, he didn't want to admit it, but the story was actually interesting when Peter wasn't putting on a show that all of them could see through. "Okay, so what happened with Paige?"

"I went to Ennis on Derek's behalf and told him about a girl interested in the bite," Peter stated.

"Ennis?" Cora asked with pursed lips, disappointed with Peter's choice of alpha. "Why would you choose him?"

"Why not?" Peter countered. "Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant that Ennis would be in good with Talia. Back then, everybody wanted to be in good with her.

"He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" Stiles spoke up.

"I don't know," Olivia said with a small shrug of her shoulder. "I didn't even know until Peter told us that he was the alpha to bite Paige. If he does remember, he kept it to himself."

"So, then what happened?" Stiles looked between Peter and Olivia for an answer. "Did he turn her?"

"Almost," Peter was the one to speak; all Olivia knew was that Paige didn't take to the bite—much like Jackson didn't before he turned into the kanima—and that she was in so much pain at the end that Derek had to kill her to make it stop. "They were at the school at night and Ennis came for her. Derek heard her struggling and came at Ennis. A fifteen-year-old boy against a giant. There was no reason for him to fight. She'd already been bitten."

"So, did she turn?"

"She should have," Peter told Cora. "Most of the time, the bite takes. Most of the time."

Stiles perked up, remembering what Peter had told him right after he bit Olivia and before he offered to bite him. "When you offered it to me, you said, '_If it doesn't kill you.'"_

"_If_," Peter nodded in confirmation. "Derek took her to the Nemeton, the cellar where Derek and I hid from the hunters when Ennis' beta was killed. I went to them and he asked me what was happening to her. He knew the answer, though. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't made for this."

"She fought, though," Olivia said sadly, thinking about the utter sadness on Derek's face when he recalled the last moments he had with Paige. "In the end, though, she was in too much pain. She begged Derek to help her."

"You mean…?"

Olivia nodded at Stiles, making him press his lips together in empathy.

"I remember taking her body from his arms, into the woods, and to a place where I knew that it would be found…" Peter did seem genuinely sad about how Paige's life ended. "another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."

Olivia blinked back tears as Cora asked, "And what about Derek?"

"Taking an innocent life…it takes some from you as well. A bit of your soul, darkening it, dimming the once brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue," Peter explained. He flashed his werewolf eyes as an example. "Like mine."

Olivia played with the fingers on Stiles' free hand, rubbing her fingertips over his nails, down the knuckles, and to the freckled back of them. She kissed his palm every so often, her mind swirling around in a dark place.

She thought about Derek and Paige's story and how she would act if she and Stiles were in their place. If she was in the exact same situation as Derek was in—the Hale pack was still alive, her mother was alive, the war against the Argents, and if she had been an actual werewolf and _not_ an anchoram—maybe she would have done the same thing. The thing was, Derek didn't mean any harm to Paige. He loved her so, so much.

Her heart hurt for her cousin. He had to mercy kill the love of his life and honestly, she didn't think she would survive if she had to do the same thing with Stiles. Derek was one of the strongest people she had ever and will ever know. He was basically one of the people she admired the most because of his strength.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Stiles asked her as he stopped at a red light.

"Derek and Paige," Olivia murmured, looking over at him and just…she was so lucky that she loved someone like Stiles. He was so funny and sweet and handsome and smart—he was everything she would ever want.

"I was thinking about them, too," he admitted. As the light went green and he pressed on the gas to move forward, he added, "I don't believe Peter. I mean, you know how we're reading _Heart of Darkness_ in Ms. Blake's class?"

Olivia nodded and hummed.

"It's in first person, it's Marlow's perspective," he expanded, though he knew she already knew what he was talking about. "The thing is that he's an unreliable narrator. You know the details of it have changed, you know, just because of his perspective."

"I know what you mean, and you're right," Olivia informed him. "All that stuff about how Derek was adamant about turning Paige? It wasn't true."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at her, glancing at her quickly. "Derek told you?"

"Yeah, I was eleven or twelve and I asked him why his eyes were blue," she shared. "He told me about Paige and how she died. Peter was the one to orchestrate the whole thing, he manipulated Derek. He and Derek were hardly close."

"Your dad's a dick," Stiles scowled. "I mean, I'm not Derek's greatest fan, but Peter takes the whole fucking cake."

Olivia laughed lightly. "Yeah, I know," she hesitated and continued, "I know Derek's not helping out as much as he should, but he's going through a hard time. He lost Erica and Boyd, and everything that happened reminded him of all the pain he went through with Paige."

"All right, I'll cut him some slack," Stiles gave in, only for her. "but only because if we were in that situation, I'd be devastated."

"Me too," Olivia pressed her lips to his palm once again. "I love you, Stiles."

"I love you, too."


	33. Olivia and Lydia vs The Darach

**[3x09; The Girl Who Knew Too Much]**

_Olivia had only been to Peter's apartment downtown once before, and that was to bring over a polite welcome-home casserole that he probably didn't eat. Now, she had business to attend to. She had questions for Peter. Questions about herself and Lydia. _

_Only a half-hour before she made her way downtown to talk to Peter, she left Lydia in her bedroom after a couple of bad hours. Lydia and Olivia had been going out for ice cream with Allison before they went back to their house for a girls' night, when Lydia drove them to the school. Not only had Lydia been drawn to the area—just like she had the night she found the body at the pool—but Olivia, herself, had felt the same thing as Lydia. _

_She just didn't know if it was because she and Lydia shared abilities or because she was so connected to Lydia due to their shared DNA or relationship. Her only option for answers was to go to her father._

"_All right, tell me again what happened," Peter blinked the sleep out of his eyes; it was around one in the morning when Olivia knocked on his door and woke him from a deep sleep. _

"_Lydia found another dead body," Olivia repeated herself. "What ever your bite did to her, it led her to the body and I felt it to. Now, I know you bit Lydia for a reason. That's why she was able to bring you back with that ritual. I want to know what she is and how it's affecting me."_

_Peter sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, exhausted. "Okay."_

"_I want the truth," she said firmly before he could begin. "No changing the story this time."_

"_All right, fine," he agreed. "To start off, you have to know what your mother was. Grace was eighteen when she inherited her abilities. She was a banshee."_

"_A banshee," Olivia repeated in slight belief; she hadn't known that banshees were a real thing. They weren't even in the Argent bestiary. _

"_A wailing woman, harbinger of death, same thing. They're not really like the Irish myths. They don't attach themselves to a family line, and their echoes don't cause death, either" he informed her. "Only females can be banshees and their abilities are inherited from their bloodline."_

_Olivia knew what he was getting at. "So, Mom got her banshee abilities from Nana Lorraine and because Uncle Thomas is a male, he passed it down to Lydia."_

_Peter nodded. "Exactly. The only reason you're not a banshee is because the werewolf genes you got from me. Anchorams are rare, very rare, but there have been two recorded instances before."_

"_As results of a banshee and werewolf union," Olivia assumed. _

"_Yes. You're neither werewolf nor banshee, but instead you have some abilities of both," he crossed his arms over his chest. "Instead of predicting just anyone's death, you're connected to your pack—that's the werewolf part of you. That's why you knew Boyd was going to die."_

_Okay, that made sense. It also exclaimed the screams that came out of her when her pack members were in deep trouble, like when Erica had her seizure from the kanima venom or when Mrs. Argent was trying to kill Scott. It was the banshee side of her. _

"_So, that's how I'm connected to Lydia."_

"_Banshees are drawn to each other. And you're related to Lydia, which gives you two a deeper connection. On your own, you wouldn't have felt the dead body tonight, but because you were with Lydia, you did."_

"_But I can hear her scream even if I'm far away," Olivia pointed out. "That night when Boyd and Cora were out of control, I could hear her scream from the public pool. I screamed with her."_

"_It might have been because it was the first time her powers really came through," Peter said thoughtfully. "I mean, other than the time when I got into her head."_

_Olivia narrowed her eyes at him, wishing he hadn't brought that up. It still infuriated her that he took advantage of Lydia when she was in such a delicate place. _

_Peter rolled his eyes. "Sorry," he apologized without meaning it. "Everyone is different, though, and since you're, what, the third Anchoram in history, some things we're gonna have to figure it out as we go."_

_Olivia nodded. She realized that. It was just hard to comprehend. She hadn't even gotten to the bottom of her collection of abilities, and already she had a lot. It was a little daunting to know that she had more to learn to learn about her abilities, along with honing them. _

"_Okay," she said finally. "Can you tell me more about banshees?"_

"_Sure thing, sweet pea."_

"So, I can find dead bodies," Lydia scoffed as Olivia pulled into the school's parking lot. "You know what, I can already tell that this banshee thing is gonna be a pain in the ass."

"You can do more than that, though," Olivia reminded her while parking next to Stiles' Jeep; it was empty, but she knew—thanks to his text message—that he was going to eavesdrop on his dad, who was supposed to be talking to the principle before school started. "You'll experience something like me, like the whispers or the warnings in your head."

"Yeah, and you handle those so well," Lydia grumbled.

"I know I don't, but they also help," Olivia stated firmly. "I know when my pack is in danger and it helps because most of the time, I have a warning and we can stop whatever is supposed to happen. You'll know if someone's dying, Lyds. What if you're able to stop it?"

They got out of the Olivia's new car—courtesy of the insurance company and Peter, who wanted to spoil her instead of being a good parent—and started making their way up to the school. Olivia was supposed to meet Stiles by the main office but she wanted to make sure Lydia was okay before she left her.

"I guess you have a point," Lydia conceded finally. "It's just a little…"

"Scary?" Olivia offered; Lydia nodded. "I know. But I'm gonna be there for you, Lydia, I swear. You don't have to go through any of this alone."

Lydia sighed and pulled Olivia into a tight hug. "I love you," she rubbed Olivia's back; Olivia awkwardly patted her back, making Lydia laugh. "I know, I know. No PDA."

"It's okay," Olivia assured her as they parted. "I love you too, by the way."

"I know you do," the corners of Lydia's eyes crinkled as she studied her cousin and the awkward face she was making. "You know, the fact that you can only be lovey-dovey with Stiles is really disappointing."

"That's not true," Olivia said adamantly. "I'm lovey-dovey with you, too. I just don't like showing my affection for people out in public."

"It's the Hale in you," Lydia shook her head with a smile. "All right, you're released. Go on and meet Stiles."

"Thanks," hurriedly, Olivia kissed Lydia's cheek and ran away from her, waving teasingly. "Love you!"

She knew that her show of her love would amuse Lydia. It was the only reason why she did that. She had to make an exception for her person.

Outside of the main office, Stiles hid behind a pillar. His eyes were sharp and his ears were perked as he spied on his father, one of his deputies, and the principal. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear much. In fact, the only thing he did hear was Noah excusing himself from the conversation when he locked eyes with Stiles.

"Hey!" Stiles frantically pulled his backpack up over his head as he rushed to get away from his dad; unfortunately, Noah was pretty quick for a man in his forties. "Hey, hey, hey, back it up," he sighed and turned to face his father. "I know what you're thinking. I know you've got all these ideas about patterns and people dying in threes—"

Stiles cut him off. "Dad, they were murdered," he then corrected himself. "Sacrificed, actually."

"I've got half the state, including the FBI coming in on this," Noah told him. "They're not getting away with killing one of our own."

Stiles almost deflated at his father's words. Up until then, he hadn't thought about just who was sacrificed. It was Deputy Tara. She had been Noah's right-hand woman ever since he was elected to be sheriff, and she was a big part of Stiles' life after his mom died. She used to bake him cookies and helped him with his homework when he was having trouble. She was a good woman.

"Dad, they killed Tara," his voice was shakier than he cared to admit. "You know, how many times did she help me with my math homework when I had to wait at the station for you?"

Noah inhaled deeply and Stiles could see the sadness in his eyes. "Just, uh, get to class, okay?" he nodded behind Stiles and greeted Olivia, who Stiles hadn't even noticed had walked over to them. "Hi, Olivia."

"Hi, Sheriff," Olivia waved at him politely.

Noah went back to his conversation with the deputy and the principal, leaving Stiles and Olivia to themselves.

Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. "How are you feeling?"

"Not the greatest, but I'll live," Stiles took her hand and locked their fingers together.

"Well, if you need to talk, I'm here," she promised him, letting go of his hand and ignoring the pout he sent her to wrap her arm around his waist.

"What happened to no public displays of affection?"

"I'll think I'll make an exception for just today."

"Just today?" Stiles stopped walking and when she tilted her head up to look at him, grinned down at her.

"Just today."

"Well, then I better make the most of it," he remarked before ducking his head and slamming his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. She easily returned his affection but when he attempted to slip his tongue into her mouth, she pulled back. "Sorry, too much."

"A little," Olivia laughed. "Come on, we have English and I don't want Ms. Blake to tell on me to Derek."

"Would she really do that?"

"God, I hope not."

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes; all tools the writer uses to tell their story," Ms. Blake stated as she walked around the classroom. She paused in between Olivia and Lydia's desks, glancing down at Lydia's drawing of a tree. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents."

"You and ever guy I've ever dated," Lydia smirked up at her, causing Olivia to snicker.

"Oh," Ms. Blake was surprised by her reply. "um, well, that was an idiom, by the way. Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or the culture…"

Olivia did not like the meaningful look that Ms. Blake gave her, Stiles, Scott, and Lydia. They all knew that she knew about werewolves—she was there when Boyd died, after all—but they didn't need her to act like an amateur and blow the big secret by acting nervous.

"They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words," she continued. "_Saying 'jump the gun' _is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race, or a phrase like '_seeing the whole board_.'"

"Like chess," Stiles offered.

"That's right, Stiles," Ms. Blake smiled down at him. "Do you play?"

"Uh, no," Stiles shook his head. "My father does."

Ms. Blake smiled at him again and faced the rest of the class. "Now, when does an idiom become a cliché?"

Olivia raised her hand to answer and Ms. Blake gave her the go-ahead.

"When you say the idiom too much," she reported. "It's like saying, '_it's raining cats and dogs_,' Eventually it'll catch and more people will say it. It's an overused idiom."

"Great answer, Olivia," Ms. Blake grinned at her and then went on with her lesson.

Once Ms. Blake was far enough away that they could whisper to each other, Scott leaned over in his seat to speak to Stiles and Olivia. "I think I can get to Ethan. I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."

Olivia scowled at the mention of one-half of the alpha twins while Stiles asked, "What do you want to do that for?"

"The druids are emissaries, right?" Scott pointed out. "What if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?"

Olivia pressed her lips together in agreement. "You've got a point."

"Thank you," Scott grinned at her and then turned to Stiles to wait for his response. "So?"

"So, I can't believe that we've gotten to the point where a sentence like '_what if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?'_ actually makes sense to me," Stiles huffed. "Second of all, we're gonna have a huge problem getting to Ethan."

"What's that?"

"Going through Aiden," Stiles stated matter-of-factly. "Ever since he's been back at school, they're always together. How are we gonna separate them again?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Olivia tried to think of something that would distract Aiden. She didn't like the guy whatsoever, so the only thing she knew about him was that he liked to hook up with Lydia in Coach's office.

_Wait_.

"I have an idea," she spoke up. When the boys looked at her curiously, she nodded toward Lydia, who was still concentrating on her spooky drawing of the tree.

Feeling eyes on her, Lydia looked up at them and sighed, "What now?"

Just staring at Ethan's face made Olivia want to slap the shit out of him. Normally, she would think that she'd be somewhat friends with Ethan. But with the situation they were in now, she doubted that she ever wanted to be. She didn't see what happened with Boyd, but Isaac had given her some details. She knew that Ethan and Aiden had picked up Boyd's electrocuted body and dropped him onto Derek's claws. She knew that they watched as Derek's claws ripped up his internal organs, and she knew that they walked away without a care that they had left a teenage boy dead behind them.

However, at least she wasn't joining Stiles and Scott in order to talk to Aiden. She didn't know if she could even look at his stupid smug face without attacking him. She didn't even care if he was ten times stronger than her. Ideally, she'd be able to calm his ass down and then Stiles or Allison could get the drop on him. Lord knows that Scott wouldn't.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Ethan asked, his eyes flitting between the three of them. "I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not gonna kill another one?"

Olivia gritted her teeth at his words and when he looked at her toward the end of his question, she stiffened. Stiles did, too. In fact, his temper flared at the way the alpha talked about Boyd and had the audacity to look at Olivia, like she hadn't been affected by Boyd's death.

"Are you look at her? Are you threatening her?" he snapped at him, standing up straight and stepping closer to Olivia. "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe, and shove it up your fucking ass, you absolute dick—"

"Okay, Stiles," Scott cut him off nervously, while Olivia gently grabbed his arm and reached through their tether to calm him down. She loved that he was willing to stand up to an alpha to protect her, but she didn't want him to get hurt. "Woah, we get it."

Stiles gave Scott an irritated look and wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulders, exhaling deeply as his anger started to concede.

"Look," Scott looked back at Ethan, who had been staring at Stiles blankly throughout his whole rant. "We're talking to you because I know that you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think that if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."

Ethan shook his head shortly. "You don't know what we owe them, especially Deucalion," he told the three of them. "We're weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't alphas."

"What were you?" Scott asked.

"Omegas," Olivia frowned at Ethan's answer; he and Aiden really didn't deserve any sympathy but she was going soft and couldn't help but feel a bud of it. Being the type of omega of a pack—not one who chose to be by themselves, like Derek had been—was said to be horrible. "In actual wolf packs, omegas are the scapegoat; the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "So you and your brother were, like, the bitches of the pack?"

Olivia hid the smirk that threatened to spread her lips and nudged Stiles as Ethan gave him an annoyed look. "Something like that."

"What happened?" she spoke up instead, wanting to know how he and Aiden managed to make it into the alpha pack.

"They were killers," Ethan shook his head in disgust, which Olivia found to be ironic. "I mean, people talk about us as monsters. Well, they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our alpha was the worst of them."

"Why didn't you guys just fight back?" Stiles brought up a good point. "Form Voltron-wolf, you know, and kick everyone's asses?"

"We couldn't," Ethan stated flatly. "We didn't know how to control it back then."

"Deucalion taught you," Scott realized.

Ethan nodded. "And then, we fought. We took down the whole pack, one-by-one," his voice got a little vicious. "and by the time we got to our alpha, he was begging for his life. We tore him apart, literally."

"What about your emissary?" Ethan shook his head at Scott's question. "They're all dead? Kali and Ennis' too?"

"All of them except for Deucalion's," he confirmed.

"You mean Ms. Morrell?" Olivia gave him a pointed look and then paused as her mind seemed to leave her body and then zap right back into it. "Oh, my God."

_Cora…Cora…Cora…_

"Livvy, are you okay?" Stiles asked as Ethan grunted in pain.

"What's going on?" Scott asked both of them.

"My brother's hurt," Ethan answered at the same time as Olivia told Stiles, "Something's wrong with Cora."

It didn't take long for Stiles to put the pieces together; Cora and Aiden were obviously fighting somewhere nearby. "Where are they?" he asked as her eyes flashed back in forth between purple and blue. "Babe, you gotta focus."

"I…I," she stammered before she was able to pass through into Cora's tether and find out where she was. "They're in the boys' locker room."

The four of them took off into the empty hallways, trying to get to the boys' locker room before any more damage was done between Cora and Aiden. Luckily they weren't far from Coach's office and they made it to the locker room just in time to see Aiden whip Cora in the head with a fifty-pound weight.

"Stop, stop!" Olivia shouted as Scott and Ethan took a hold of Aiden on each of his arms. She didn't bother visualizing the anchor that she put on him, she was too angry about him hurting her cousin that it came easy to her.

Aiden's wolf features immediately melted away, calming down in his brother's hold.

"You can't do this," Ethan reminded Aiden as Olivia and Stiles knelt down by Lydia beside Cora's injured body.

"She came at me!" Aiden shouted. He would have growled, but Olivia's hold was still over him.

"It doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can't touch him, Cora, or Olivia."

Stiles placed his hand on Olivia's back and glared up at the alpha twins. "Get the fuck out of here."

It looked like Aiden wanted to argue but Ethan wouldn't let him. Without a word, the twins left the locker room. Olivia hardly noticed, she was too focused on her cousin and the huge wound on her head that was pouring blood.

"She's really hurt," she said softly. She looked at Stiles and Scott and asked, "Can you help me get her up?"

Once Cora was up on her feet, Olivia escorted her over to the sinks. She got some paper towel and dampened it in order to wipe the blood off of her face. Cora was not pleased with her cousin's hovering and grunted a few times when Olivia cleaned the wound.

"Stay still," Olivia got some antibiotic cream from her bag and gently smeared it over the wound. "You're such a bad patient."

"Shuddup."

"Are you okay?" Scott asked Cora.

Lydia scoffed. "She doesn't look okay."'

Cora gave Lydia an irritated look and carefully pushed Olivia away from her. "I'll heal," Almost immediately after she took a step away from the sink, her legs weakened and she faltered. She would have fallen if Scott wasn't there to grab her and keep her steady. "I said I'm fine."

"Stop being so stubborn," Olivia sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist. At least Cora would let _her_ help.

"Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was?" Stiles pointed out sternly. "What were you thinking going after them?"

"I did it for Boyd," Cora snapped back at him. "None of you were doing anything."

Olivia sighed. "You know that's not true, Cora."

"We're trying," Scott added.

"And you're failing," Cora addressed all her ire at Scott, Stiles, and Lydia. "You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed, but all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."

"Cora, shut up," Olivia's voice had hardened as she turned and carefully dragged her cousin out of the locker room, not hearing Stiles' comment about the both of them definitely being part of the Hale family. "I know you're grieving and you're angry and hurt, but you can't say things like that to them."

"Why not? It's the truth."

"You shouldn't say it because we're trying our hardest to figure this out," Olivia stated, annoyed. "And I get it, I can feel Boyd's loss, too, but you can't take it out on people who are doing their best to help you and the whole town."

Cora let out a drawn-out sigh and winced when a flash of pain went through her head. "I'm not apologizing," she said stubbornly.

"That's fine. Just give them some slack."

"Hey!" they heard Stiles call from behind them; he was soon at their sides. "Do you need a ride?"

"Um, yeah," Olivia nodded. "I can leave my car here and pick it up later tonight."

"Sounds good."

Halfway to their journey to Derek's loft and after three attempts to make contact with Derek, Allison called them. She informed them that she and Isaac had been searching her dad's desk and found a Celtic knot that was labeled with each group of the sacrifices. She listed the groups of sacrifices that had already happened and then the two that had yet to come.

"Philosophers?" Olivia asked in surprised. What exactly did that mean? There were a lot of occupations or people that could easily fit into that category. It would be someone like Plato, or a teacher, or a scientist, or even a really smart person. But, at the same time, how did Deputy Tara fit in that category?

"And guardians," Allison added; that made more sense in Tara's case since she was a police officer. "which after last night, has to mean something like law enforcement. Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Tell your dad, warn him."

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles said quickly, his mind racing a mile a minute. "I know."

Olivia ended the call and looked at her boyfriend, seeing the anxious look on his face. "You're gonna tell him right?"

"I have to," Stiles nodded. "but I'm gonna need both of your guys' help."

Olivia nodded and took his hand from the steering wheel, squeezing it tightly. "Whatever you need."

Olivia watched from Stiles' bed as her boyfriend paced back and forth, trying to come up with something to tell his dad. Personally, she had never gone through telling a parent about the supernatural world and because she was pretty sure that Natalie had some sort of knowledge about—and she was in deep, deep denial that Olivia and Lydia were a part of it—she wouldn't really need to. She couldn't put herself in Stiles' shoes properly and it annoyed the crap out of her because she wanted to be there for him like he was always there for her.

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles murmured under his breath. "Yes, okay…No, no…"

"Stiles?" Noah cleared his throat.

Stiles quickly faced his dad. "Dad, I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm trying to…I'm just trying to figure out how to start here."

"Hey," Noah said sternly. 'I don't have this kind of time."

Stiles blew out a heavy breath, causing Olivia to speak up encouragingly, "Stiles, just start with the cases."

"Right, right, the cases," Stiles nodded jerkily and looked back at Noah. "Okay, um, for the last year, you've had all these cases that you couldn't figure out, right? I mean, all the murders involving Kate Argent, and then Matt killing all the people who drowned him, and all these murders right now. It's like…it's like you've been playing a losing game."

Noah stared at him, unimpressed. It was clear that he didn't know why Stiles was going through his "failed" cases. "Stiles, the last thing I need right now is a job performance review from my own son."

Stiles rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I know," he looked over at his dresser in order to pull his thoughts together and spotted the chess board he and his dad would play with from time to time. "Okay, see, but that's—that's just it, Dad."

He hurried to his dresser and grabbed the chess board, which folded into a case to keep all of the pieces together, and then set it on his desk. "The reason that you're losing the game is cause you've never been able to see the whole board," he opened the game and tossed out all the pieces. "I need to show you the whole board."

While Stiles carefully labeled each and every chess piece with sticky tabs, Olivia let Cora lean against her. She made sure that she didn't fall asleep, but soon she was swept up into an episode. She could hear Lydia screaming and it took all of her control—and biting down on the inside of her cheek—to make sure she didn't scream too (she didn't realize that it would have helped Stiles convince his dad that the supernatural life was real until afterward).

Noah did not look over at her—and therefore, did not see her purple eyes—because he was too concentrated on watching Stiles label and explain each supernatural creature and the names of his friends that matched up with them. By the time Olivia was pulled away from Lydia's tether and back in control of her mind, Noah was sufficiently caught up.

Well, kind of.

"Scott and Derek are werewolves," he said flatly, looking across the desk at Stiles.

"Yes."

"And Kate Argent was a werewolf?"

"Hunter," Stiles corrected him, pointing to the piece where he labeled Kate with a purple tab. "That's…Purple stands for hunter."

"Allison and her dad are hunters, too," Olivia told him, leaving out the part where they were supposed to be retired. If Mr. Argent and Allison were retired, then normal grandparents would be working overtime.

"Yeah," Noah gestured to Dr. Deaton's piece. "and my friend, Deaton, the veterinarian, is a kanima?"

"No, no, he's a druid, okay?" Stiles stated. "Well, we think."

Olivia and Cora exchanged a look. They didn't really think that Dr. Deaton was a druid, they were 99.9% positive that he was one. Then again, Olivia could see why Stiles said what he said, Noah could only handle so much.

"So, who's the kanima?"

"Jackson," Olivia responded, thinking of her friend; she missed him.

"No, Jackson's a werewolf."

"Jackson was the kanima first, and then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf," Stiles explained. "Now, he's in London."

Noah frowned. "Who's the da-rack?"

Stiles corrected his pronunciation. "It's da-_rock_."

"We don't know who the darach is," Olivia piped in.

Stiles pointed at her in agreement. "We don't know yet."

Noah blinked at them. "But he was killed by werewolves?"

"Slashed up and left for dead."

"_We think."_

Stiles pointed at Olivia again. "We think, yeah."

Noah sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "Why was Jackson the kanima?"

"'Cause sometimes, the shape that you take reflects the person that you are."

"And what shape would an increasingly confused and angrier-by-the-second father take?"

"Uh, that would be more of an expression like the one you're currently wearing," Stiles replied nervously.

"Yeah," Noah heaved himself off the chair and started toward the door.

Stiles scrambled out of his, too. "Dad—Dad, would you wait?" he begged his father. "I can prove it, okay? Cora's a werewolf and Livvy's an anchor. You ready?" he asked Olivia and Cora; they nodded and Olivia helped Cora stand. "All right, Dad, just watch this, okay?"

Olivia didn't know if Noah managed to see any sign of their supernatural nature or not. Cora's name popped up in her head and she was dragged down to the floor when Cora collapsed.

"I wished you would have answered my calls," Olivia muttered to Derek as they sat side-by-side in the hospital waiting room while Cora was being examined and placed in a room.

"I know, Ollie," Derek replied softly. "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand why she's not healing. She should have healed by now."

"We'll find out why she's not," Derek assured her and squeezed her hand. "I already called Peter. Hopefully he knows something we don't."

"Hopefully," Olivia sighed; her phone started vibrating in her hand. When she was that it was Scott, she excused herself from Derek and walked over to Stiles, where he was talking to Melissa. "Hey."

"_Hey, is Stiles with you?"_

"Yeah, hold on," she waved to Melissa silently and grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him into an empty hallway; she put him on speaker. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"_All right, it's philosophers as in teachers,"_ Scott told them hurriedly. _"Allison and her father just found Mr. Westover."_

"That makes sense," Stiles glanced at Olivia. "Tara, she wasn't always a cop. She used to teach middle school."

"_Then the last one's gonna be another teacher."_

"_There's close to a hundred teachers employed at the high school,"_ Olivia pointed out worriedly. _"There's even more at the middle and elementary schools."_

"And they're all headed home," Stiles added.

"_No, no they're not,"_ Scott said after a few seconds of silence. "_They're all going to the recital."_

"Fuck," Stiles cursed in annoyance. "All right, I'm gonna go talk to my dad."

"I'll borrow Derek's truck and head over there now, Scott," Olivia took the call off speaker as Stiles walked away to find his dad. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"_Okay, but Liv…"_

Her eyebrows furrowed at the worry in Scott's voice. "What's wrong?"

"_I talked to Morrell. She told me that the alpha pack wanted me because I'm supposed to be a true alpha."_

"A true alpha?" she repeated in disbelief. "Wow, Scott."

She was impressed; true alphas only came around once in a while and the fact that their own Scott was going to be one was special.

"_Yeah, but that's not the only thing she told me,"_ Scott sighed; Olivia braced herself for more news. "_She told me that the alphas want you, too. She said that anchors are rare and you have powers you haven't even untapped. Deucalion thinks you be a good addition to the pack."_

_Shit, shit, shit, shit_…Olivia cursed herself. _Why did I have to be a rare species?_

"Well, that is _not_ good," she breathed nervously before collecting herself. "but we can deal with it later. We need to stop the darach before someone else dies."

"_Yeah, we do_," Scott agreed. "_All right, I'll see you in ten."_

"Okay, be careful."

"_You too, bye."_

The recital had already started by the time Olivia arrived at the school. A storm was brewing overhead and the faint music she could hear coming from the auditorium made the environment even more eerie. She ran through the parking, wishing that she hadn't worn heels that day, and rushed into the building.

She got to the lobby but stopped right in her tracks outside the main part of the auditorium, her gaze taking on a purple tint. An indescribable feeling flashed through her body and then she moved, letting whatever the feeling was take her where she needed to go. It was like the time that Derek had been shot with the wolfsbane bullet and she was led on autopilot throughout the school until she found him.

_Lydia…Lydia…Lydia…Lydia, Lydia, Lydia…_

She found herself in the English hallway, automatically making her way to Ms. Blake's classroom in a daze. She stopped just outside of the classroom when she heard Lydia and Ms. Blake talking.

She didn't take time to listen to what they were saying. She stormed into the classroom but was immediately airborne. Her back hit the wall painfully and she was risen until her feet were a couple feet off the ground. She was stuck and she was useless.

"Glad you joined the party," Ms. Blake—_no, fuck that, I am not giving her any respect by calling her anything but her stupid first name!_ –smirked at her. "I was wondering when you would come for her."

"Let her go," Olivia snapped at her, her eyes darting to Lydia, who was terrified and staring at her with wet eyes. "What do you even want with her?"

"Nothing special," Jennifer shrugged. She flicked her hand toward a chair and Olivia flew to it, slamming against the hard, wooden back. "You, on the other hand…"

Olivia was unable to move as Jennifer used duct tape to secure her hands and legs to the chair. When she was finished, she picked up a small wooden dowel and started wrapping a length of strong cord around it. She was making a garrote.

"What are you doing?" Lydia whimpered, still fighting off unconscious from the hard hit she took from Jennifer when she first walked into the class.

"What's necessary," Jennifer stated. "I'm still surprised none of you seem to get that. You call them sacrifices but you're not understanding the word," Olivia rolled her eyes at her dramatic monologue. "It's derived from the Latin '_sacrificium'_, an offering to a deity, a sacred rite. A necessary evil."

"Oh, shut up," Olivia groaned, hoping to get her attention away from Lydia. "I'm pretty sure that killing fifteen innocent people isn't necessary."

"You know, on the outside, you appear so tough, emotionless," Jennifer stood from her crouched position in front of Lydia and sauntered over to Olivia. "but I know you're afraid right now. I know you're afraid all the time. This shell?" she poked Olivia in the cheek. "Well, it's all an act."

"Who cares if it is?" Olivia hissed right back at her.

"Oh, I don't care. I was just taunting you before I kill you and your precious cousins. The useless ones, I mean," Jennifer grinned maliciously. "I think I'll keep Derek around."

Olivia harshly snapped her jaw together, speaking through her clenched teeth, "Stay away from them."

"I would but I won't," Jennifer giggled. "See, you were my target. Deucalion wants you and you're powerful. If I kill you now, he won't be able to use you against me."

Olivia's heart started to race and her own name was starting to be repeated over and over in her head. Scott had to know that Lydia had disappeared and that she never made it to the auditorium. She had to stall so he could get there. "So, you're doing this to go up against the alpha pack?"

"Correct. Let's just say that you don't know the alphas like I do," Jennifer twisted the garrote in her hands and stepped behind Olivia. "And because they currently don't know my plan, I think Lydia is going to have to go, too. She knows too much. First, she can watch you die."

"No, no, no," Olivia said frantically, locking her scared eyes on Lydia, who stared fearfully back at her.

"Stop!" Lydia whimpered. "Stop, stop!"

Jennifer didn't stop. Before she could fully press the garrote against Olivia's throat, she forcefully tore the duct tape around her right hand and slipped it between her flesh and the cord. She gasped as the cord dug into her fingers. "Lydia!"

As if they had rehearsed, Lydia let out the loudest scream that had ever passed through her lips. Olivia screamed only a second later, unable to fight the urge that came from Lydia's tether. It was kind of weird, warning people of your own death.

Olivia's scream died out first and then a couple seconds later, so did Lydia's. Jennifer dropped the garrote from her hands, letting it hang on Olivia's neck, and walked over to stand in front of Lydia.

"Unbelievable," she gasped, studying Lydia intently. "You're a banshee. A wailing woman, right before my eyes. You're just like me, Lydia. Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it."

"She's nothing like you," Olivia spoke up fiercely, her voice hoarse.

Jennifer shrugged, the comment not bothering her. "It's too bad, though, and too late," she walked back over to Olivia, taking her place behind her and picking up the garrote. The garrote pulled tightly around Olivia's neck, making her choke. "One last philosopher."

Olivia couldn't breathe. There was no room for her trachea to move, causing her to suffocate. It was almost as if she could feel her throat being crushed, causing her to panic and squirm around in the chair, kicking her feet to try to fight back.

_Olivia…Olivia…OLIVIA, OLIVIA, OLIVIA!_

"Stop, stop!" Lydia shouted frantically, choking on her tears as she watched Jennifer pull out a knife from her person and hold it up to Olivia's throat; the second part of the three-fold death.

"Drop it!" a new voice joined Lydia's.

With Jennifer sufficiently distracted, the garrote dropped from Olivia's neck. She took in a deep breath, her throat sore inside and out. Something urged her to look over at who had interrupted Jennifer, but she recognized the voice. Noah had ran into the classroom, gun cocked and aimed right at the darach.

As soon as she laid eyes on her boyfriend's father, Jennifer whipped the knife that was going to be used on her at him. It lodged itself into his shoulder so forcefully that it splayed him flat on his back. Noah wasn't technically in her pack, but he was someone Olivia cared for very much; that meant that she knew he was in danger, but he wasn't going to die. She couldn't explain it, but there was a different between the whispers that warned her of a pack member in danger and then the ones that warned her of the pack member's death. Noah was okay, for now.

Jennifer turned back to Olivia, intending to finish what she started, but a roar filled the room. Scott had arrived, his werewolf features fully on display as he snarled at Jennifer. He lunged at her, but Jennifer easily dodged each of his blows. She was more powerful than him and the way she sent him flying across the room and into a pile of desks proved it.

Olivia didn't know exactly what Jennifer did to him, but it was obvious that she did something else to him. Scott was spitting up blood and hitting desks that didn't weigh much didn't seem like it would do something like that to him.

She whimpered through the pain in her throat, "_Scott_!"

Her attention was dragged away from Scott as Jennifer slid her desk across the room and right into the door, slamming it closed. Before she could even wonder why Jennifer had done that, she saw Stiles' head pop into view from the small window at the top of the door. He was slamming his whole body against it, but with the weight of the desk, it wouldn't budge. He couldn't get into the room.

With Stiles and Scott taken care of, Jennifer focused on Noah, who had grabbed his gun, got to his knees, and aimed it at her.

"There was a girl," he said tiredly as Jennifer took slow steps toward him. "years ago. We found her in the woods, her face and body slashed apart. That was you, wasn't it?"

Jennifer glared at him. "Maybe I should've started with philosophers with knowledge and strategy."

She closed in on Noah and he pulled the trigger, shooting in her in her right thigh; Jennifer simply shook it off and continued on to him. "Healers," she grabbed him by the knife in his shoulder and held him high in the air, the blade slicing through the fleshy part of his shoulder. "Warriors…" she ripped his badge off of his shirt and crushed it with her fingers. "Guardians…Virgins…"

"God, leave him alone!" Olivia shouted to the best of her ability as Jennifer placed a wet kiss against Noah's mouth. Jennifer's face warped into a horrifying figure and screeched while she grabbed Noah and flew toward the windows. "No!"

Jennifer had disappeared with Noah. Scott had woken up from whatever daze Jennifer had put him in and the force that was shoving the desk against the door had disappeared. While Scott had rushed toward Lydia—on Olivia's insistence; the redhead was unconscious from the blow Jennifer had landed on her—Stiles rushed into the classroom and to the windows.

"Dad?" there was no answer to Stiles' call and it hit them all like a punch to the gut. "Dad?!"


	34. Guardians

**[3x10; The Overlooked]**

Derek took one look at the bruising around Olivia's neck as she walked into his loft and ran over to her. "What happened to you?" he demanded, his eyes darting to Stiles and Scott and then back to her. He tilted her chin up in order to get a better look at the dark bruise on her neck. "Who did this?

"It was Jennifer," Scott told him. "She's the darach, she's the one killing people."

"And she took my dad," Stiles added angrily. "Yeah, and that was after she tried to kill Livvy and Lydia."

Derek's eyes widened only slightly as he looked back at Olivia. "Is it true?"

"It is," Olivia confirmed, her voice hoarse from the damage done to her neck.

Derek shook his head angrily and then sighed when Olivia winced in pain. He placed his hand on her cheek; Olivia stiffened as she felt some of the pain around her bruise disappear, and then saw it darken Derek's veins as he absorbed it.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry, Ollie," he pulled her into a hug; he looked over her head at Stiles and added, "Sorry about your dad. Now that we know that Jennifer is the darach, we have to start planning."

"We sorta already came up with one," Stiles crossed his arms over his chest. "We figured that she would come to you and try to give you some story about tonight. The three of us will hide and when we come out, Scott will throw mistletoe on her and—"

"And we kill her," Derek finished.

"No," Scott said pointedly. "We'll tie her up or something. We need to know where Noah is."

Derek reluctantly agreed. Not long after, he and Scott heard Jennifer making her way up to the loft. Olivia, Stiles, and Scott hid behind the freestanding wall with a huge hole in it just as the loft door slid open.

"Derek?" Jennifer called, stepping into the loft. "Derek, where are you?"

"Right here," Derek walked out of the kitchen where he had hidden to be inconspicuous.

"Thank God," Jennifer sighed heavily and ran over to Derek, wrapping her arms around him. "Something happened at the recital. At the school…"

_Yeah, you tried to kill me and my cousin, bitch, _Olivia snarled in her head.

"…Okay, I need to tell you before you hear it," Jennifer separated from Derek to look him in the eyes. "before you hear any of it from them."

Olivia could feel Derek's tether starting to pulse angrily, trying to stay in control. She had to give her cousin props, though. He was focusing on his anger, like he usually did, and took control over it. In fact, his face didn't slip from 'concerned boyfriend' at all.

"From who?"

"Scott, Stiles, Olivia," Jennifer listed, and there's where she made her first mistake; she shouldn't have mentioned Olivia at all. Olivia had to fight to keep Derek in control, closing her eyes to concentrate. "They're gonna tell you things. Things you can't believe. You have to trust me, okay? You trust _me_."

Jennifer must have been more stupid than she looked. Why on earth would Derek trust her, someone he only met a month ago, over his own family. He wholeheartedly trusted Olivia—and even Stiles and Scott—and he saw the fucking bruise on Olivia's neck. Why would they lie about any of that?

Derek swallowed down his anger, his control much higher now that Olivia was helping him. "What is it?"

"Promise you'll listen to me."

"I promise."

Olivia grimaced as Jennifer smashed her lips against Derek's. The kiss didn't last long before Jennifer pulled away, looking at him suspiciously. Derek must not have responded to her kiss, which Olivia respected him greatly for.

"They're already here, aren't they?" she asked him darkly; Derek looked over to Olivia, Stiles, and Scott as they walked out of their hiding place. "So, they told you it was me? That I'm the one taking people?"

"We told him you're the one _killing_ people," Scott spoke up, his voice firm.

"Oh, that's right," Jennifer chuckled mockingly. "Committing human sacrifices? What, cutting their throats? Yeah, I probably do it on my lunch hour. That way, I can get back to teaching high school English the rest of the day. That makes perfect sense."

"Where's my dad?" Stiles asked her, so angry and worried about his dad's kidnapping that he had tears in his eyes.

"How should I know?" Jennifer glared at Stiles before looking back at Derek. "Derek, tell me you don't believe this."

Olivia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're honestly the biggest idiot I've come across if you think that Derek would believe _you_ over his family, his pack," she sneered angrily. "Where is Stiles' dad?"

Jennifer didn't even turn to Olivia while she spoke, staring up at Derek instead.

"Do you know what happened to Stiles' father?" Derek repeated Olivia's question.

"No," Jennifer answered firmly.

"Why'd you try to kill Olivia and Lydia?"

"This Olivia?" Jennifer pointed a thumb back at Olivia. "and Lydia Martin? I don't know anything about that."

"What other Olivia would I be talking about?" Derek raised his voice. "What do you know?"

"I know that these kids, for whatever misguided reason, are filling your head with an absurd story," Jennifer told him while glowering back at Olivia, Stiles, and Scott. "And one they can't prove, by the way."

Stiles angrily lunged toward her but at the last second, Olivia caught his arm, holding him back—which was very difficult because he was stronger than her. She did want to see Stiles rip Jennifer apart, but logically she knew it wouldn't be possible. Jennifer had already demonstrated her powers at the school and she had won.

"Other than bruise from the garrote you used to try to kill me, we have other proof," Olivia glared daggers at her, all the while trying to calm Stiles down. "Scott, show her."

Scott held up the large vial of powdered mistletoe that he got from Dr. Deaton. Jennifer faltered. "What is that?"

"My boss told me it's a poison and a cure," Scott explained while unscrewing the cap. "which means you can use it and it can be used against you."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes and snarled, "Mistletoe?"

Scott shoved the jar throwing, throwing out its contents. The mistletoe flew through the air, and it seemed like it was drawn to Jennifer because it mystically headed straight for her. Not a speckle of it hit the floor. Jennifer grunted and groaned at the affect the mistletoe had on her; her pretty face turned into something grotesque and scarred, like the Phantom of the Opera but much, much worse. Her groan turned into a high-pitched snarl before the mistletoe wore off and she turned back to her normal appearance.

She went to run, but Derek was faster than her. His claws appeared as he grabbed her by the neck and raised her in the air, her feet more than a foot off the floor.

"Derek, wait, wait!" she begged. "You need me!"

"What are you?" Derek's voice came out as a growl.

"The only person who can save your sister," she choked out; Olivia stiffened, wondering what she was going on about. What did Cora have to do with this? She had been injured by Aiden. "Call Peter. Call him!"

"Derek," Olivia called his name; when he looked over at her, she nodded. He couldn't kill Jennifer anyway, not when Sheriff Stilinski was out there and they had no clue where he was. "I'll call him."

Derek nodded back at her while she took out her phone and called Peter. He picked up the call quickly. "Hey, how's Cora?"

"_Not good_," Peter reported worriedly. "_She's in and out of consciousness. She's vomiting up black blood, along with one other alarming substance…"_

"Mistletoe," she assumed, glaring over at Jennifer.

"_How did you know that?"_

Olivia didn't answer; she hung up the call and watched as Derek, who had heard every word of the call, started squeezing Jennifer's throat. They could audibly hear the bones starting to crack.

"Derek, Derek, what are you doing?" Scott asked frantically.

"Her life," Jennifer gasped for breath. "it's in my hands."

Derek raised her higher into the air, causing Stiles to yell, "Stop, Derek, stop!"

"Stilinski, you'll never find him."

Although Olivia would love nothing more to see Derek kill Jennifer, they had to put a stop to it. Cora was sick, almost on the brink of death, and Noah was missing. "Derek, stop," she hurried over to her cousin and grabbed his free arm. "You can't kill her."

Derek snarled at Jennifer and let go of her, throwing her onto the floor.

"That's right," Jennifer said tauntingly, not even taking the opportunity to get her breathing back to normal. "You need me. All of you."

_Bitch_, Olivia thought before she stormed over to Jennifer. She formed a fist, reared her arm back, and swiftly brought it forward, decking Jennifer in the cheek. Surprisingly, the hit was strong enough that Jennifer's back hit the floor and a red mark appeared on her cheek.

"Shut. Up."

"You know, something feels wrong about this," Stiles mused quietly to Olivia and Scott as he pulled the Jeep into the hospital's parking lot. "We proved it to Derek but she still had this look like it didn't matter. You know, like it was all still going according to plan. You guys saw it, didn't you?"

Scott nodded at him while Olivia spoke up from the backseat, "Yeah, I did."

The hospital was pretty much evacuated due to the storm, so there were hardly any cars in the lot. Stiles drove up straight to the emergency entrance and parked behind Derek, who was under the overhang. The three of them got out and were immediately soaked by the downpour of rain. While Olivia and Scott hurried to the doors, Stiles grabbed something from the back of the Jeep and ran to catch up to him.

Scott eyed the bat in his hands. "What's that?"

"Well, you got claws, I got a bat!"

"What do I have?" Olivia asked him as they entered the hospital.

"You have me," at his words, Olivia shook her head fondly and nudged him with her elbow, earning herself a nudge back.

The three of them followed Derek, who had a tight grip on Jennifer, through the lobby of the emergency department. There were nurses scurrying around, packing up files and anything important for their patients to take with them to the hospital helping them out, and the last of patients' visitors leaving. They were just about to turn down the hallway and head to Cora's assigned room when Melissa ran into them.

"Scott, what are you doing here?" she asked her son worriedly. "The hospital's evacuating."

"We're here for Cora."

At Scott's answer, Melissa eyed Stiles, Olivia, Derek, and Jennifer. "What, all of you?" she paused when she saw what Stiles was holding. "Why does Stiles have my bat?"

While Stiles glanced awkwardly at the bat, Scott got his mom's attention. "Mom, just trust me on this. You need to get out of here, right now."

Melissa took a beat, realizing that something more serious than a storm was going on. "The building is supposed to be clear in thirty minutes," she told them somberly. "We've got two ambulances that are coming back. One's ten minutes out, the other's twenty. Cora needs to be on one of those. They'll be picking up in the basement garage."

Scott nodded. "Got it."

He joined the others once again and they kept walking. They made their way down the hallway and entered the elevator to head to the third floor.

"You don't have to keep me on a leash, Derek," Jennifer spoke up once the elevator doors closed. "I'm going to help."

No one spoke. Jennifer turned her head and glanced at Scott, who was giving her the evil eye, and then to Stiles, who was holding his bat threateningly while glowering at her. She rolled her eyes and faced the doors again.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and they walked out onto the third floor. Cora's room was the first on the right, but there was no one in there. All there was a large spot of black blood with mistletoe that Cora must have thrown up. There was little dribbles of blood, though, that trailed out of the room and down the hallway, stopping at a set of double doors.

They weren't able to take a step before they heard grunting. Then, out of nowhere, it seemed, Peter came flying head-first through the doorway, landing with a painful groan at their feet. "We got a problem," he told them, lifting his head to look down the hallway where he had come from. "Big problem."

Down the hallway, Ethan and Aiden had formed into Voltron-Wolf. They growled angrily at them and flexed their arms, showing off their combined form. Derek and Scott's wolf features popped out on command. Derek was the first one to move, growling as he raced toward the twins.

He smashed into them, head ducked down so he could hit their torso, but the twins slammed one of their elbows into his back. Derek hurriedly got out and rose to his full height, hitting a blow to their face. The twins didn't like that; they grabbed him from around the neck and started punching him in the head, over and over.

Scott took the twins' distraction as an opportunity to attack. He roared as he raced toward them, climbing up on the wall as they threw Derek to the floor, and jumping on them. While they fought, Olivia turned to Stiles.

"Get Peter and go get Cora," she told him. "I'm gonna help Derek and Scott."

"Livvy—"

"Just do it!"

While Stiles helped Peter up off of the floor, Olivia closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, bringing up her tethers to her pack in her mind. It was like a map which got better and better the more she developed her powers. Right now, her pack members' tethers were lit up around her in a circle. Scott's and Derek's were glowing brightly in gold and red, respectively, which meant that they were in their wolf forms. In between the tethers, there were two more red dots, almost on top of one another; Ethan and Aiden. Those were the lights she needed to hit.

In the middle of a circle, there was a purple sphere which represented her. She gritted her teeth and concentrated, hoping to blast the twins' dots with her purple light. Vaguely, she could hear Scott pleading with the twins and the twins responding back in their deep and almost electronic, Voltron-Wolf voice.

The purple light only got halfway to the red dots when they were on the move, running away from Scott's. She opened her eyes just as they passed her, running toward the elevator where the doors were closing with Jennifer inside.

"Ollie, let's go!"

Olivia glanced back at the twins only briefly before she ran toward Derek and Scott. The three of them caught up with Stiles and Peter, who had Cora thrown over his shoulder. Together, they all started running again, pushing through a set of doors that opened up to the morgue.

"Don't stop, don't stop!" Derek urged from the back, glancing behind him to see the twins only a couple feet behind them.

They were about to leave the morgue when Stiles stopped and held up his bat, hiding near the other set of doors where the twins would come through any second. Olivia and Scott called his name frantically, but he stubbornly stayed where he was. When the twins burst into the morgue, Stiles swung the back at them with all of his strength, only for the bat to splinter into pieces as soon as it made contact with the twins' head.

"Oh, fuck."

"Stiles, let's go!" Olivia waved him over frantically while the twins roared at him.

Stiles scurried away from them, his back basically up against the wall as he made his way toward the others. In order to distract the twins, Scott jumped up to the ceiling and grabbed one of the light caps, forcefully pulling it down so it would hit them in the head.

The lights flickered as they ran away from the alphas again, eventually turning off. Fortunately, only moments later, the generator buzzed to life and the lights blinked on.

Once their group were a few hallways away in the operating wing, they stopped in one of the rooms. Peter laid Cora, who was still unconscious, down on a table and Olivia hurried over, hovering over her cousin nervously.

Her hand shook as she reached for one of Cora's hand, hoping there was someway to help her, and Peter took it to steady her for a moment. While he did so, he asked Derek, "Where's the big guy?"

"He's not far," Derek answered, shutting the doors firmly behind him.

"What about Ms. Blake?" Stiles asked Derek; Derek could give no response and Stiles automatically knew that something was wrong. He turned to Scott for answers, who shook his head. "What do you mean? What does that mean? Like, she's gone? Scott, are you fucking kidding me?"

Olivia winced as Stiles voice rose in anger, knowing that he was taking it out on the wrong people. When Derek hissed at him to shut up, things went from bad to worse.

"Me, shut up? Me, huh?" Stiles confronted Derek, eyes glaring daggers at him as he got up in his face. "Are you telling me what to do now? When your psychotic, mass-murdering girlfriend—the second-fucking-one you've dated, by the way—has got my dad somewhere, tied up, waiting to be ritually sacrificed?"

Scott hurried over to them and tried to calm Stiles down. "Stiles, they're still out there."

"And they want her, right?" Stiles retorted. "Which means now we don't have her either, so my dad and Cora are both fucking dead!"

"Not yet, Stiles," Olivia let go of Peter's hand and walked over to Stiles, grabbing his hand tightly; Stiles only deflated a little as she turned her head back to Peter. "Is she really dying?"

Peter shook his head grimly. "She's definitely not getting any better."

"There has to be something we can do," Scott stated. "We have to help her."

The doors they entered through burst open and Jennifer dramatically walked in. "You can't," she declared. "I can save her and I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is but there is a pack of alphas in this hospital who want me dead. So, I'll help you but only when I'm out of here and safe. Only then."

There was only a second of silence before Derek was grabbing a cart near him and harshly knocking it to the floor so he could get at Jennifer. Scott was right there, grabbing him and pulling him back. "Derek, wait!"

"She was trying to get out!" Derek pointed at Jennifer furiously.

"I was trying to keep from getting killed," she defended herself. "You can't blame me for that."

Olivia shook her head and gritted her teeth. "If you want to make us think you're one of the good guys, then heal Cora."

Jennifer shook her head. "Not until I'm safe."

"I'd like to volunteer a different method of persuasion," Peter spoke up as he stared at her harshly. "Let's torture her.

Stiles pointed at Peter. "I'm down with that."

Cora nodded in agreement and Derek added, "Words for me."

Scott held Derek back once again as he tried to lunge at Jennifer. Only a second later, the overhead speakers squeaked on and Melissa started to speak.

"Um, can I have your attention," she sounded scared, which worried them all. "Mr. Deucalion…excuse me, just Deucalion…requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the ER reception. Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have ten minutes."

The overhead system cut out and Jennifer shook her head. "He's not gonna hurt her."

Derek glowered at her. "Shut up."

"He won't!" she insisted. "Scott, you know why. Tell them it's true."

Realization dawned on Olivia, she knew what Jennifer was talking about. Earlier that night, Scott had told her that he was going to be a true alpha and that was why Deucalion wanted him in the alpha pack. He wasn't going to hurt Melissa and jeopardize having Scott on his side of this war.

Derek looked at Scott for an answer. "What does she mean?"

Scott didn't answer, so Jennifer did. "You're not the only one he wants in his pack," she told Derek. "Deucalion doesn't just want an alpha pack. He wants perfection. That means adding an Anchoram and the rarest of alphas to his ranks."

Stiles squeezed Olivia's hand tightly and Derek gave her a worried look as Peter spoke up. "A true alpha."

Stiles hadn't heard of a true alpha before. "What's that?"

"The kind that doesn't have to steal his power from another," Peter explained to him. "One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott."

"It doesn't matter," Scott said firmly, not liking the hungry way in which Peter was looking at him. "We still need to get her out of here."

Stiles pressed his lips together hesitantly. "Scott, your mom…"

"My mom said there's one more ambulance coming in twenty minutes," Scott stated, resolved in getting Cora to safety. "And I don't think we've been here that long, so if we can get down to the garage, get to the last ambulance, we can get out of here."

"The twins aren't gonna let us just walk out," Peter pointed out.

"I'll distract them."

Derek gave Scott a look of disbelief. "You mean fight them."

Scott shrugged. "Whatever I have to do."

"I'll help you."

"Um, sorry, but I'm not going anywhere without you, Derek," Jennifer interjected stubbornly.

Olivia rolled her eyes. They were helping her at the cost of not only their lives, but Melissa's life, and she had the nerve to be picky about who was going to escort her to safety. The audacity this bitch had.

"I'll do it," Peter volunteered. "But I'd prefer to be out there with an advantage."

"An advantage like what?" Stiles glanced at him. "You mean like a weapon?"

"Something better than a baseball bat."

The group—other than Cora and Jennifer, the lazy bitch—spread throughout the room to look for something that Peter could use to his advantage.

"Hey, wait," Stiles picked up some shock paddles and held them up. "What about these?"

Derek gave him a flat look. "Do you know how to use those?" Stiles shook his head. "Put them down."

At the medicine cart, Scott pulled out a huge needle full of clear medicine. "Epinephrine?"

"That's adrenaline," Olivia informed him. "That will only make them stronger."

Peter paused from his place next to Olivia at the shelves holding medical equipment. "How strong?"

"With that much, strong," Olivia told him and then paused, realizing what he was getting at. "It would help you. And with me out there with you and Scott, we might actually have a chance."

Scott nodded and passed the needle injection over to Peter while Derek protested, "You're not going out there, Ollie."

"I've forced the twins out of Voltron-Wolf once before," Olivia reminded him of the fight where they thought he and Ennis had fallen to their deaths.

"What if you get hurt?" Stiles was the one to speak then, giving her a worried look.

"I'll keep out of the way," she assured him. "We don't have time to argue about this. Peter, take the shot and let's go."

While Peter forced the huge needle into his chest, Stiles hurried over to Olivia and took her face in his hands, giving her a passionate kiss. "Be careful, please."

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once the adrenaline had started its wonders and Peter was staggering from its affect on him, Derek and Stiles took Cora, with Jennifer following them, out of the other set of doors. Peter, Olivia, and Scott left through the ones they came in from and faced the twins, who were down the hallway.

"All right, boys," Peter raised his voice. "Let's rumble!"

Peter ran at them first, only to be joined by Scott in the next second. The twins easily threw Peter into the wall but then took a blow from Scott. Scott ducked as they fought back and he was fine, but then they swung again and he hit the floor. Luckily, Peter was up by that point and fighting once more.

A purple sheen fell over Olivia's eyesight as she brought up her tethers. She could see Scott immediately, his tether more orange now than gold—a hint of his upcoming true alpha status, she guessed—but Peter was a bit harder to find. As horrible as it sounded, she didn't think of Peter as pack. He was more of an absent father who came around only for his benefit or to make sarcastic comments—but, she had to give it to him, he had been around more for his family lately.

After two seconds of adjusting, she was able to find Peter, a blue dot on her map. Next to him were the red dots that represented Ethan and Aiden. She focused in on them and got to work, metaphorically blasting them with a sense of control over their wolves. They took a few hits but Olivia could still hear them fighting Scott and Peter, so she used more energy. She held up her hands in order to mock her energy spearing into them and the power she felt inside of her started to swell.

"_ETHAN! AIDEN!"_

Voltron-Wolf fell to the ground and within seconds, Ethan and Aiden were disjointed. Olivia and Scott took the few seconds to help Peter up from the floor and book it away from the twins. It wouldn't be long until they could control their transformation again.

"That shot didn't last very long," Peter breathed heavily, still not back to his regular werewolf strength and agility. "Those twins are really starting to piss me off."

The generator was turned off at that very moment. The hallways were pitch black and Olivia panicked because she didn't know how she was going to help Scott and Peter if she couldn't see in the dark like they could. It took a few seconds before the emergency lights came on but they eventually did.

"How they hell are we supposed to get past them, Kali, and Deucalion?" Scott breathed.

"I have no idea," Olivia answered. "It was hard enough controlling Ethan and Aiden's shift. I wouldn't be able to do it to the others. Oh, go here."

The three of them pushed into the cleaning staff's room and let Peter rest against one of the shelves. "Personally, I think if we keep letting them beat the living shit out of us, they'll tire and give up."

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Olivia gave her opinion sarcastically. "We need to get out of here before they're able to change back."

"I have an idea."

Olivia and Peter followed Scott's stare to where a laundry chute was nestled into the wall. Olivia and Scott let Peter go down the chute first. They didn't wait very long after they heard him drop into a laundry cart; Scott went first and then Olivia went soon after.

Peter groaned from their combined weight on top of him. "You couldn't have waited, like, ten seconds?"

Olivia's phone vibrated in the pocket of the hoodie she borrowed from Stiles as she tried to get out of the cart. Once she was steadily on her feet, she pulled the phone out and saw that it was Derek who had messaged her.

_**Derek**__: Jennifer and I are stuck in the elevator in between floors_

Olivia frowned and texted back.

_**Ollie**__: Okay, don't move. We're on our way_

Peter sighed at the look on her face. "They didn't get out, did they?"

"They stuck in the elevator," Olivia told him and Scott. "Okay, we should get Peter to Stiles and Cora so he can get some rest."

"And then we'll go find Derek and Ms. Blake," Scott nodded in agreement.

Once Peter and Scott were out of the laundry cart, they left the room, which happened to be in the basement, and made their way toward the ambulance that was still there. As they got to the door to enter into the garage, Olivia stopped them. She quietly explained that she could feel Ethan and Aiden walked around in their Voltron form. They waited until it was clear and then rushed toward the ambulance.

Olivia slapped her hand on the window in the back door and saw jump at their abrupt arrival. "Stiles," she urged. "open the door!"

Stiles hurriedly opened both of the doors and Scott asked him to help get Peter into the vehicle. Stiles reached for Peter and pulled him into the seat next to him before asking, "Where's Derek and Jennifer?"

"We have to go back for them and my mom," Scott told him.

"Okay, two problems," Stiles licked his lips nervously. "Kali's got the keys to this thing and I just saw the twins, like, thirty seconds ago."

As soon as he stopped talking, there was a loud bang that came from behind them.

"Okay, stay here," Scott ordered him before turning to Olivia. "Let's go."

Olivia and Scott took off once more, a lot more quickly than when they were dragging Peter around with them. Once they were back in the hospital, they slowed to a walk. They went up a level of stairs and started heading to the Emergency lobby to look for Melissa.

All of a sudden, Ethan and Aiden came out of nowhere. They forcefully pushed Olivia into the walls and grabbed Scott around the neck, placing him up high against the wall.

"Where is she?" they growled at them. "We're trying not to hurt you."

"Yeah, you say that but I'm pretty sure you just gave me a concussion," Olivia griped as she stumbled to her feet and leaned against the wall so she wouldn't pass out. "And you're currently choking Scott, so…"

"Yeah, try harder," Scott grunted, his hand trying to rip theirs away from his throat."

"Hey!" Melissa shouted as she sauntered on over next to Olivia with shock paddles in her hands. "I'd like to try something."

She shoved the paddles into Voltron-Wolf, making the twins' body shake the large amount of electricity making its way through their body. They fell to the floor and separated from each other.

Scott looked up at his mom in amazement, but Melissa didn't waste time to gloat about how cool she was. "Sweetheart, get up! Come on, both of you."

Olivia, who had gained her balance back, scrambled to help Scott to his feet. "That was so badass, Ms. McCall," she gushed as they all started running. "Oh, my God, you're my hero."

"Thanks, Liv, but I'm freaking out," Melissa said breathlessly.

"What did Deucalion do to you?" Scott asked worriedly. "Is he coming back for you or something?"

"No, he just let me go," Melissa told him as they slowed to a walk again. "said it was a gesture of goodwill. No other reason."

"He had to have a reason," Scott insisted. "I don't think he does anything without a reason."

"Well, if that means I should continue to be profoundly terrified, then don't worry about it. I got that covered," Melissa huffed anxiously.

Just as they were about to turn a corner, Scott stopped them. He took the lead as he cautiously inched forward—Olivia and Melissa right behind him—only to come face-to-face with a gun. Both their party and the gun owner's party relaxed; it was Isaac, Allison, and Mr. Argent.

"So, then, they're essentially trapped?" Mr. Argent asked as Scott finished telling him, Allison, and Isaac what exactly was going on. The six of them all walked into an exam room and hurdled around a table.

"Yeah, right," Scott confirmed.

From in between Olivia and Allison, Isaac spoke up. "But there's no way of getting them out without turning the power back on?"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Melissa hurriedly interjected. "if the power's back on, they're gonna hear the elevator moving, right?"

"Then they'll be on Jennifer and Derek as soon as it stops," Scott added. "We can't get int a fight with them."

"You've got us now," Mr. Argent assured them.

"It's too much of a risk," Olivia crossed her arms over her chest and bit the inside of her cheek. "They want her dead and if she dies, there's nothing that we can do for Stiles' dad or Cora."

Chris sighed and conceded her point. "I don't even think I know which teacher this is."

"She's the one with the brown hair. She's kinda hot," Isaac tried to describe Jennifer. When he got disgusted looks from the others, he backtracked. "No, it's just—just an observation."

Allison shook her head at him and faced back in front of her. Olivia saw her looking in the mirror across from them and studying her reflection intently. "I've got an idea."

Allison's idea turned into a plan, in which everyone would pitch in. It was simple; because of her likeliness to Jennifer, she would take the woman's shoes and run throughout the hospital before leaving through the emergency entrance. Mr. Argent would be waiting there for here with his gun and Allison's bow, which they would fire at the alphas when they followed her out. Olivia and Isaac would use the Argents' car and wait until the alphas passed a certain part of the hospital before going to the basement garage to get Cora, Stiles, and Peter out of there. Meanwhile, Melissa and Scott would go to the roof and turn the power back on, allowing Derek and Jennifer to exit the hospital safely.

"Okay," Olivia locked her phone after messaging Derek and slid it back into the sweater she was wearing. "Derek know about the plan and they're getting ready."

"All right," Scott nodded determinately. "let's do this."

They all took their leave, splitting up in different directions for their parts of the plan. Olivia and Isaac went back out into the storm to get into Mr. Argent's car. Isaac would be driving while Olivia would be looking at the feed on his phone to see when Ethan and Aiden would run past Allison's in the hallway.

"You ready?" Allison asked Isaac as Olivia held the camera up to his face.

"Yeah."

"You're not nervous, are you?"

Isaac sighed heavily. "Do I look nervous?"

"No, not at all," Olivia smirked at Allison's voice. It had the same tone she always used when she was lying.

Allison set her phone down in the hallway where she and Mr. Argent were currently sat up in.

"Did he look nervous?" they heard Mr. Argent asked.

"Terrified."

Isaac clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Yeah, I can still hear you very, very clearly."

"Just go as soon as you see them, okay?"

"We got it, Al," Olivia assured her. "Be careful."

"You too."

Just then, their group chat dinged with a text message from Scott. They were ready to go.

Allison started running around the first floor while Mr. Argent went to the emergency entrance. She doubled back around and not long after she passed the phone, Ethan and Aiden did as well.

"Isaac, go!"

Isaac pressed forcefully on the gas. They sped through the small parking lot by the basement entrance and into the garage, squealing to a stop right outside of the ambulance. Both of them hurried out of the vehicle and ran to help Peter, Cora, and Stiles.

"All right, come on, come on," Isaac urged them as soon as the doors opened. "Come on!"

Peter heaved Cora into his arms and ran to the car with Isaac opening the door for him. As she slipped her in, Olivia looked back at Stiles. He was reading something on the ambulance doors, a horrified look on his face.

"Stiles?" Olivia called for him.

He turned to her, almost panicked. "It's guardians, as in parents," he told her. "We gotta tell Scott."

Olivia nodded her head and then looked back at Isaac. "Go! Stiles and I are gonna go get Scott and Derek!"

Isaac nodded and slid into the driver's seat, driving away before Olivia or Stiles could take a step.

They sprinted through the hospital, passing through the emergency wing quickly. They had just turned into the hallway with the elevator when they saw Scott pause by it, staring at something. Stiles called his name but Scott took off again, entering the stairwell.

"Scott! Scott!"

Olivia paused when she saw that it was Derek in the elevator, passed out with no Jennifer in sight. Before she could think of what that meant, Stiles was grabbing her wrist and urging her to follow him up the stairs.

They made it to the roof, where Melissa was supposed to be, just in time to hear the monologue that Deucalion—who was on the roof alone, with no Melissa—had seemingly prepared.

"Guardians, Scott," he said as he gripped his seeing cane. "If you and Olivia were with me, I could have told you what it meant. I could have warned you. Let me help you two. Let's help each other. You and Olivia help me catch her and I'll help you get Ms. McCall and Sheriff Stilinski back."

Olivia glanced at Stiles, wondering if she should go with Deucalion for his and Scott's benefit. Their parents were taken by Melissa and she was willing to make a deal with the devil if it meant that her boyfriend and friend's family was safe.

Stiles shook her head at her and held her hand firmly before looking back at Scott. "Scott, don't do this," he called to his best friend. "Don't go with him."

Scott turned around to face Stiles and Olivia with tears in his eyes, absolutely devastated. "I don't know what else to do."

"No, there's got—Scott, there's got to be something else, okay?" Stiles pleaded with him, squeezing Olivia's hand tighter. "We always…we always have a plan B."

Scott shook his head. "Not this time," he declared. "I'm gonna find your dad. I promise."

"No!" Stiles shouted. "Don't do this Scott! _Scott_!"

But Scott had already made up his mind. He had joined the alpha pack.


	35. Emotional Tethers

**[3x11; Alpha Pact]**

"Derek?!" Stiles shouted and he sounded so terrified it broke Olivia's heart. He slapped his hand down on Derek's cheek to stir him awake. "Derek, come on!"

Olivia shook her cousin's body while Stiles kept on hitting him. She didn't know if it was because Stiles was scared or taking his anger out on Derek for Jennifer's disappearance, but damn, he was putting all of his strength into his blows.

"Derek, wake up," Olivia shook him again. "Derek!"

Stiles curled his open hand into a fist and reared back, ready to punch Derek awake. Just as his arm reamed forward, Derek lifted his hand and caught it. Olivia sighed in relief and placed a chaste kiss on Derek's sweaty forehead before helping him up into a sitting position.

Derek looked around the elevator, bewildered. "Where is she?"

"Jennifer? Gone with Scott's mom," Stiles answered, his voice still panicked.

"She took her?"

"Yeah, and if that's not enough of a kick to the balls, Scott left with Deucalion, okay?" Stiles informed him. "So, we gotta get you out of here. The police are coming right now and we gotta get you the fuck out of here."

Olivia and Stiles both worked together to get Derek to his feet. "Woah," he stumbled slightly. "What about Cora?"

"She's with Isaac and Peter," Olivia told him. "They should be in the parking lot with the Argents."

"Olivia and I will hold the police off," Stiles added. "but you have to go right now."

Derek glanced at Olivia worriedly. "Be careful," he touched her cheek for a second and then brushed a thumb over the small cut just under her temple from where she hit the wall earlier. "and get that cut cleaned."

"I will," she assured him. "Go now."

Derek took off toward the parking lot and Olivia and Stiles made their way to the Emergency Wing's lobby. They sat in chairs right next together; Olivia laid her head on Stiles' shoulder while he grabbed her hand and locked their fingers together.

"I'm sorry all of this is happening, Stiles," Olivia whispered; there was something about the silence in the hospital that made her want to not disturb it.

"S'not your fault," Stiles kissed the top of her head. "Babe, you almost died last night. There wasn't anything you could do to stop Jennifer from taking my dad or Melissa."

"I know," and she did know that; she didn't blame herself for what was happening. None of them knew that Jennifer was the darach until she tried to kill her and Lydia. "but that doesn't mean that I can't feel sorry for the pain you and Scott are going through. How are you feeling?"

"Not great," his hold on her hand got a little tighter but he made up for it by playing with her fingers; it made her smile. "Maybe Cora was right, you know? We're only finding the bodies," he sniffed, a single tear making its way down his left cheek. "I don't want to find my dad's body."

Olivia gently detached her hand from his and wrapped her arms around him, her chin resting on his left shoulder. "We're gonna find him, Stiles, okay? We're gonna do everything we possibly can."

"How? We don't have a plan," he shifted so his face nuzzled her neck, his fingers pressing firmly into her back. His voice was absolute miserable and it made tears sting Olivia's eyes.

"We'll come up with one. I'll get Allison, Lydia, and Isaac and we'll come up with something. We're all smart, we can do it. Even if I have to join Deucalion, I will do that for you."

Stiles shook his head in protest and whispered. "Don't. I need you by my side."

Olivia stroked the back of his head. "Okay. I won't leave your side. Not even to go to the bathroom."

Her little joke coaxed a smile out of him, she could feel his lips quirk against her skin. He was about to reply when loud sirens alerted them to the fact that the police had arrived. They separated as the police officers and numerous FBI agents stormed into the hospital.

Stiles spotted a man that Olivia didn't recognize and sighed heavily. "Oh, just perfect."

Olivia gave him a questioning look but was unable to ask him what was up, because the man—who had to be a giant—walked over to them.

"A Stilinski at the center of this whole mess," the man stopped in front of Stiles, glaring down at him. "What a shocker. Think you can answer some questions without the usual level of sarcasm?"

Olivia started to protest—she was pretty sure Stiles was allowed a lawyer with him while being questions, or something like that—but Stiles had already spoken up, very sarcastically, "If you ask the questions without the usual level of stupid."

The smile smiled just as sarcastically. "Where's your dad?" he asked Stiles. "And why has no one been able to contact him?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him in hours."

"Is he drinking again?"

"Is that question appropriate for this investigation?" Olivia glared at the agent.

The man gave her a firm be-quiet look and turned back to Stiles. "Answer the question."

Stiles sighed heavily. "What do you mean, again? He never had to stop."

"But he did have to slow down," the man prompted. "Is he drinking like he used to?"

Stiles licked his lips and glared up at him. "All right, how about this? Next time I see him, I'll give him a field sobriety test, okay?" his voice hardened. "We'll do the alphabet, start with 'F' and end with 'U.'"

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek to hold back her laughter. Stiles totally made the agent look like a fool.

The agent smiled tightly. "How about you just tell me what the hell happened here?"

"I don't know what happened here," Stiles exhaled heavily. "Olivia and I were stuck in the elevator the whole time."

"You're not the one who put the names on the doors, are you?"

Olivia and Stiles shared a confused look. "What name?"

"Argent."

"The word is guardian, Allison," Mr. Argent said as he opened the door to their apartment, Allison, Olivia, and Stiles piling in after him. "More than anyone, you know that's a role I haven't exactly lived up to lately."

"But she took Scott's mother and Stiles' father," Allison pointed out as they walked through the apartment and into Mr. Argent's office. "That's not a coincidence."

"Yeah, I'd also consider the fact that someone put your name up in large block letters on the elevator doors," Stiles added. "That kind of felt like a warning to me."

"I think it was Ms. Morrel," Olivia stated, remembering how the guidance counselor told Scott about Deucalion wanting them in his pack. "She knows everything about the alpha pack and she knew Jennifer before. I think she might be trying to help us."

Stiles scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, she needs to get on that a lot faster, okay? Seeing as how the lunar eclipse is less than two freaking nights away."

He sat in one of the chairs in front of Mr. Argent's desk; Olivia went to him, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

Mr. Argent gave him a kind look. "Stiles, don't give up hope."

Stiles ducked his head. "They could already be dead."

"I don't think so," Mr. Argent disagreed. "There's something about Jennifer's tactics. It's like she's still positioning, still moving pieces into place."

"And you're one of them," Allison reminded her father.

"Then let's not wait around to see the next move," Mr. Argent grabbed the map of Beacon Hills and the telluric currents and flattened it on his desk. "Everything she's done has been on a telluric current, so Melissa and the sheriff have to be somewhere on one of those currents, right?" he paused when he saw that Stiles hadn't followed Olivia over to the desk. "Stiles, if we're gonna find them, we need your help."

"You're seriously want to go after her?" Stiles didn't stand up, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I mean, what if she just takes you like the others, huh? No offense, but what's the difference between you and them?"

Mr. Argent reached for one of the drawers in his desk. He pulled it open and Olivia watched in shock as he pulled out a huge handgun. She inched closer to Allison, who gave her a reassuring smile. She had never been shot, but there was something about seeing Mr. Argent hold a gun in front of her that made her itch.

"I'm carrying a .45," Mr. Argent told Stiles bluntly. "Maybe she can heal from a shot to the leg and a few slashes to the face, but personally, I'd like to see how she holds up with half her skull blown off."

Olivia looked back at Stiles and quirked her lips, her expression telling him 'he's got a point.'

Mr. Argent set the gun back on his desk. "We've got one priority right now and that's to find Melissa and your dad," he said firmly. "We've got a map and every clue we need to figure this out. The only thing we don't have is time, which is why I need all three of you."

Stiles sighed and stood up. "Where do we start?"

Mr. Argent pulled out his blue light so they could see exactly where he had marked the telluric currents, the places where the victims were kidnapped, and the places where their bodies were found.

"The place where the sacrifices have been committed have usually been different from where the bodies have been found. I think the placement has to do with the strength of the current," he held the light over the map, hitting three different places. "So, there's the school, the animal clinic, and the bank."

"Wait, hold on," Olivia spoke up thoughtfully, her eyes studying the map. "You don't think she would use the same place twice, do you?"

"Only if she didn't succeed the first time," Mr. Argent hit the light against the mark at the bank.

"Scott's boss," Allison realized.

"Deaton," Mr. Argent confirmed. "It was her only failure. That could mean something."

"That's just one place so far," Stiles grumbled. "We're gonna need a lot more help."

Allison looked at Olivia. "What about Lydia?"

Mr. Argent looked at the girls, confused. "Lydia? What can she do?"

"She's a banshee, a harbinger of death," Olivia told him. "She's been finding the bodies without looking for them. Which, now that I think about it, might not be the best thing. Because if she can find Ms. McCall and Sheriff Stilinski, that means…"

No one said anything as her sentence trailed off. They all knew what that meant.

"We can still bring her in," Mr. Argent decided; Olivia nodded in agreement. "What about you? Are you able to locate them?"

"I can try. They're not considered official pack members, but their relation to Scott and Stiles might give me something," she glanced at Stiles, who gave her a small smile.

Mr. Argent nodded. "All right, good," he glanced at Allison. "Let's get ready then."

Olivia and Stiles watched as the Argents pulled out their weapons. Mr. Argent went down to the basement of their apartment building where they had a storage locker full of weapons, while Allison went around the apartment and pulled out the ones they kept with them all the time. Guns—big and small—bows and arrows, Chinese ring daggers—those were harder than they looked to use, Olivia knew because Allison had been attempting to teach her the ropes—more knives, smoke grenades, and anything else that would help defeat Jennifer, and/or the alpha pack, were laid on the desk.

Stiles looked at the collection of weapons with wide eyes. "Woah," Mr. Argent cocked his gun into place. "I thought you guys were retired."

"Retired, yes. Defenseless, no," Mr. Argent set the gun back on the desk and then turned to face Olivia and Stiles. "Make sure both of your phones are on. If either of you hear from Scott, let us know immediately."

Stiles checked his phone, where there were no messages or missed calls from Scott, and frowned. "Yeah, I'm thinking that's gonna be kind of unlikely."

Mr. Argent glanced at Allison, seeing the frown on her face. "All three you, try to remember he's just doing what he thinks is right," he advised them all.

Allison's gaze was already on the door; Olivia, Stiles, and Mr. Argent turned to see Isaac standing within the door frame. "I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but…" his claws slipped out of his nail beds and he held them up. "Well, I'm getting pretty good with these."

The one thing she had not expected when she stepped a foot into her house a half-hour later, was Natalie rushing up to her. She pulled Olivia into a tight hug—a _very_ tight hug—and held the back of her head, as if assuring herself that Olivia was alive and relatively okay.

Olivia should have expected it. Natalie might not be her mother, but all intents and purposes, she was. She watched over Olivia for six, going on seven, years, she fed and sheltered her, and she loved her and cared for her just as much as Lydia. Her stomach dropped when she realized that she hadn't gotten in touch with Natalie after the whole fiasco that she and Lydia went through with Jennifer. She had been too caught up with the events happening in the hospital and she knew that Lydia was okay, only because of her tether to her.

"I was so worried about you," Natalie sighed into her hair.

"I'm sorry," Olivia apologized sincerely but then had to lie about where she had been. "I was at Derek's. He took care of me."

Natalie frowned and pulled away from the hug to get a good look at her. "Your neck. God, I'm going to kill whoever did this to you two."

If only that was possible.

"I'm okay," she assured her aunt; and as if the universe hated her, her voice squeaked like she was a male going through puberty. She cleared her throat, having gotten used to the pain, and asked, "How's Lydia?"

"The poor thing has a concussion and a couple of stitches by her hairline," Natalie sighed sadly and reached up to Olivia's forehead, thumbing over the cut she had cleaned up at the Argents' apartment. "I'm so glad you two are okay."

"Me too," Olivia took her hand and squeezed it quickly. "If it's okay, I'm gonna go see Lydia."

"Of course, honey," Natalie nodded encouragingly. "How about in ten minutes, I come up there and help you get ready for school? I know you don't like to miss it."

"Thanks, Aunt Nat. I'll see you in a few."

Olivia left her aunt and climbed the stairs, heading straight to Lydia's bedroom, only a door from her own room. She knocked gently and waited until she heard Lydia's permission to enter, before going into the room. Lydia was sitting at the end of her bed, dressed in pajamas, flipping through pages of an old photobook. Olivia recognized it; it was the one from their first year in middle school.

She looked up and smiled at Olivia as she padded over to her bed. "Hey."

"Hey, how are you feeling?" she sat next to the redhead.

"My head hurts a little bit, but other than that, I'm fine," Lydia studied the bruise on her neck. "How about you?"

"Just a little bruise."

Lydia pressed her lips together sadly. "What happened last night?"

Olivia described everything that went on last night. She told her about confronting Jennifer with Stiles, Scott, and Derek, about how Jennifer had poisoned Cora with mistletoe and that was why she wasn't healing. She explained how they went to the hospital and the alpha pack showed up, the many ways they tried to thwart them, and the plan that they eventually came up with. Finally, she told Lydia about Jennifer taking Melissa and Scott joining Deucalion and the rest of the alphas.

"I don't believe it," Lydia shook her head with a sigh. "Scott can't really be with them. He can't be."

"He's doing it for his mom and the sheriff," Olivia frowned; more and more, she was thinking that Scott had made the right decision. And she should have done it with him. If making a deal with the devil was the price she had to pay to make sure Noah and Melissa were safe, she'd do it. "And the look on his face…"

"Okay, so what can I do?" Lydia immediately volunteered to help them, making Olivia smile thankfully at her. "I know I'm supposed to be some human Geiger counter for death or something, but you told me that I could maybe save some people. I don't know how to turn it on and off yet, but…"

When she hesitated, Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "What?"

"Remember what Jennifer said when she was going to kill me after you?" Lydia reminded her. "She said I knew too much."

"You're right. She didn't know you were a banshee."

Olivia's mind raced. Jennifer tried to kill Lydia because she knew something about what was going on, but what was it? She thought back on how Lydia had been acting since the school year started, and other than finding the dead bodies and that stint at the Motel Glen Capri, she couldn't think of much else…Except, wait. There was something. The day before, when they were in English class learning about idioms, Jennifer had commented on Lydia's drawing.

"Your drawing," she said aloud to see if it sparked something in Lydia. "The one you always draw, the tree."

Lydia looked at her confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The tree you always draw," Olivia got up from the bed and rushed over to Lydia's desk, picking up one of the notebooks there. She opened it up and on the very first page, was the tree. She showed it to Lydia. "This tree. You've been drawing it everywhere, Lyds."

"What?" Lydia asked, horrified. She ripped the notebook out of Olivia's grasp and flipped through the rest of the pages. Over and over, on each page, a drawing of the same tree was there in various sizes. "What the hell?"

"She knew that you knew something about the tree, but she didn't know what," Olivia pointed out. "Do you know what the drawing means?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, I don't. I mean, I talked about it with Ms. Morrell once in one of our sessions, but—"

"Ms. Morrell knows?" Olivia cut her off urgently. "About the drawings and stuff?"

"Yeah, why?" Olivia didn't answer her as she pulled out her phone and started messaging Stiles. "Liv?"

"Sorry, sorry," Olivia turned back to her cousin. "Okay, Stiles and I are gonna head to the school and talk to Ms. Morrell. Do you think you can try to get ahold of Aiden and see if he or the other alphas know anything about Jennifer that we don't?"

"I can try," Lydia seemed bewildered at how flustered Olivia was. "Are you all right, Liv?"

"Yeah, yeah, I just need to go," Olivia rushed to the door before stopping and turning back to her. "Hey, do you think I should cover this," she gestured to her neck. "up?"

"No," Lydia said firmly. "You survived Jennifer's attack. You don't need to hide that."

Olivia inhaled deeply, feeling herself get emotional, and smiled softly at Lydia. "Okay, thank you. I love you, Lyds."

"I love you, too, Liv."

After getting dressed and throwing her hair into a topknot—she had not had time to shower, which was unfortunate, because she was pretty sure she still had blood in her hair—Stiles picked her up and they rushed to the school. As they started heading over to Ms. Morrell's office, Olivia got a text message from Lydia.

_**Lyds**__: Aiden's not texting me back_

_**Liv**__: All right. Just keep trying, okay?_

_**Lyds**__: I will. Be careful_

_**Liv**__: You too_

While she was texting her cousin back, she saw a message come in from Isaac. She ignored it for just a second as she looked up at Stiles and informed him of what was going on with Lydia, "Aiden's not texting Lydia back," she paused and saw that he had stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, his phone in his hand. "Are you okay, Stiles?"

Stiles continued to look at the phone, his face crumpling.

"Stiles, what's going on?" she asked cautiously. She walked over to be by his side and saw that Stiles had gotten a text message from Isaac as well. "What does it say?"

"Jennifer, she t—" he inhaled shakily, his hands shaking. "she has Allison's father. She took him. "She's got all three now."

Olivia's heart started racing in her chest but she somehow found words. "There's still time," she focused on that; Jennifer couldn't do anything until the lunar eclipse started. "We still have time, Stiles."

Stiles didn't respond. His hands shook terribly as he put his phone back into his jeans pocket, he was pale and sweaty, and she didn't need to have enhanced hearing to hear how shaky his breath was. Not only did his tether—his was her favorite, a light brown like his eyes when the sun hit them just right—start flashing, different than it did with the werewolf tethers.

"Stiles," she stood on her tiptoes to place the palm of her hand against his cheek, grounding him for a second. "Stiles, are you having a panic attack?"

Stiles struggled to breathe as he nodded, his eyes wide with panic.

"Okay, it's okay, um…" she looked around the hallway and thanked God that Ms. Morrell's office was close to the boys' locker room. "Okay, come on, Stiles."

The frantic gasping that came from Stiles was scary, she wasn't going to lie. However, she needed to be there for him. She had never experienced a panic attack, but she had read about them. And because she knew Stiles had anxiety, she had learned multiple ways to help people who were experiencing panic attacks. Even though everyone was different and so were reactions, she hoped one of the techniques would help him.

Olivia helped Stiles take a seat on the floor, his back leaned up against one row of lockers, and then kneeled down in front of him. Stiles was really beginning to worry now, his face had lost all color and his breathing had turned into hyperventilating.

"Stiles? Stiles, look at me," she gently grabbed his face and tilted it upward so he could look her in the eyes. "I know you're scared right now, but you have to calm down. Can you breathe with me?"

Stiles nodded, breathing heavily.

"All right, here," she picked up one of his hands and pressed it against her stomach where he would be able to feel how she breathed. "and breathe slow like this. Slow inhale, slow exhale."

She demonstrated the breathing for him. Stiles tried to copy her actions but his thoughts must have gone to his dad again, because he went through two or three cycles of breathing before it picked up again.

"Liv-Livvy," he gasped out, his eyes boring into hers, panicked.

"Okay," that didn't work. "um, okay. Tell me five things you see in this room right now."

He gave her a bewildered look. "I-I can't."

"Yes, you can," she insisted as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. "Right now, Stiles. _Please_."

"O-Okay," he panted, his eyes quickly tracing the room. "Okay, u-um, my locker."

"Good, good. What else?"

"Y-You're wearing—you're wearing a blue shirt. Blue is pretty."

"Yeah, it is," Olivia smiled at him. "Okay, three more things. You're doing great, sweetcheeks.

"The, uh," his breathing was better but not totally okay yet. He gasped quickly and then continued, "the regional ch-championship trophy."

"That's great, Stiles. Two more."

Stiles eyes darted behind her, where the sinks were lined up on the wall. "The leaky faucet. It's, uh, it's the third one."

Olivia glanced behind her and smiled when she saw that he was right. "Good. One more," his breathing was much calmer now. The gasps were gone and each breath he took was less wheezy. "You're doing great, Stiles."

Stiles' eyes went back to her face, searching it intently. "You're wearing that lip balm you like," he said finally. "it's pink and it tastes like strawberries."

"Yeah," she gazed at him fondly. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, his breathing back to normal. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Stiles took the hand of hers that was on his face and kissed her knuckles. "How'd you know how to do that?"

"I, uh, I knew you had anxiety, so I looked up some methods that might help with panic attacks," Olivia answered him sheepishly. "I have a few more. You can name some colors or hold your breath, and you can even distract yourself with something funny that you like. Like for you, it'd be—"

Her rambling was cut off but Stiles pulling her in for a loving but passionate kiss. Of course, she returned the affection. She loved Stiles so much and she was very happy to know he was feeling better.

When he pulled away from the kiss and stared at her. And he was so damn cute, staring at her like she was the most wonderful person in the world. "You really did that?"

"Of course I did," she stroked his cheek again once she moved it back to his face. "I would do anything for you, I love you."

"I love you, too," Stiles pressed his lips to hers again and pulled away before she could react. "I love you so fucking much, Livvy. One day, after all this is over and we graduate, I'm gonna marry you. And then we'll go to college and get an apartment next to Scott, and we'll have however many dogs you want—because I know you secretly love them so much—and then we'll have a family and we'll—"

"Okay, okay, settle down there," Olivia giggled and gave him a bright smile. The only way she could describe how she felt at his words was that there were a hundred butterflies in her stomach who were just as overjoyed to hear him say that as she was. "We have to get your dad, Melissa, and Mr. Argent back first. We'll see about the rest then, okay?"

"Okay," Stiles nodded with a grin. After Olivia climbed to her feet, she brought her hand down for him to take. He took it gladly and she helped him up. "We should get to Ms. Morrell's office now, huh?"

"Yeah."

After leaving the locker room, they rushed down the hallway and stormed into Ms. Morrell's office. Ms. Morrell wasn't there at her desk like they thought she would be, but there was a student waiting for her. She looked kind of familiar, but Olivia just couldn't place her face at the moment.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Stiles asked her.

"No, I thought this was gym class," she snarked back at him.

"Okay, listen, we're not in the mood for unneeded sarcasm," Olivia put up her unfeeling mask she used for her classmates and the other students—and teachers—at the school. "Do you know where she is?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be waiting her for twenty minutes," the girl huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, how about you two lovebirds back out the door and wait your turn?"

"We're here for a session," Stiles told her.

"Well, I am, and I've got some serious issues to work on."

"Woah, hold on," Olivia studied the girl's face, finally realizing where she had seen her before. "You were at Heath's birthday party. Uh, it's Danielle, right?"

"We've had class together, but sure, I was the girl at Heath's birthday party," Danielle rolled her eyes. "I was his best friend and you and your cousin stopped hanging out with him. That's what Morrell and I have been working on three times a week."

"Wait, did you say that Morrell's twenty minutes late?" Stiles interjected.

Danielle nodded. "And I don't know why, either. She's always on time.

Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've been seeing her since freshman year," he looked at Olivia. "She's never late…so, she must be missing."

Olivia gave him a knowing look. "What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?" she mused. "Aiden wasn't answering Lydia, remember?"

Stiles nodded and glanced at the filing cabinet behind Ms. Morrell's desk. "Then let's find out what she knows," he knelt down in front of the filing cabinet and pulled out a lock-pick kit that Olivia had no idea he had. "You said Lydia's been seeing her since the start of the semester?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?" Danielle asked, affronted, as she watched Stiles break into the cabinet and sift through the files. "Those files are private."

"We're looking for my cousin's file," Olivia told her. "She gave us permission."

Danielle didn't look impressed but she didn't stop them or go to tattle on them, either.

"Find it!" Stiles stood up and tossed Lydia's file onto the desk.

Olivia opened the file and went through the various papers that Ms. Morrell had collected on Lydia. There were no notes like there would be if Morrell was a normal guidance counselor. Instead, it was full of Lydia's drawings, each one of them a tree just like the ones that filled her notebook back at home.

"Wait, wait, stop," Stiles caught her hand as she went to pick up another paper. "Look at that."

The paper he had pointed to had the tree on it like the others. However, this one was different. It was upside down compared to the other ones, making the tree look more like roots, and at the bottom, it was labeled. In Ms. Morrell's writing, it said, '_Nemeton_.'

"Oh, my God," Olivia breathed in realization. "It's the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be."

Stiles nodded in agreement. "That's where Derek brought Paige, right?" Olivia made a noise of confirmation as they rushed out of the office, leaving Danielle behind. "Okay, so—"

"Stilinski!" the agent from earlier, who Stiles had told her was Scott's _father_, shouted for him as he stomped down the hallway.

"Fuck," Stiles cursed under his breath. "All right, you should go to Derek and ask him about the Nemeton and its location."

"I will," Olivia glanced behind him and bit the inside of her cheek when she saw that Agent McCall was only a few feet away from them now. "Be careful."

"You too."

Olivia walked away as Stiles confronted Agent McCall and swiftly turned into a different hallway, the one where her locker was located. She didn't leave like Stiles wanted her to, she had a few phone calls to make.

She took a deep breath and dialed Dr. Deaton first.

"Did you know your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Agent McCall asked him. He was sitting on Coach's desk while Stiles sat on one of the students' desks right across from him. He felt like he was in the worst detention he had ever experienced. Scratch that, Mr. Harris' detentions were the worst.

Stiles ducked his head, staring at his fingers and he nervously wringed them together. "No. What does that mean?"

"It means he's officially missing," Rafael told him. Stiles stayed quiet: _Tell me something I don't know._ "Stiles, why am I getting the feeling you know something that could help us find your dad?"

Stiles lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at his best friend's father. "If I did, why would I not tell you?"

_Probably because you, nor the FBI, know anything about what it's really like in Beacon Hills. You don't know about the supernatural, you don't even know that your son is a werewolf, a fucking true alpha,_ he thought bitterly.

"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?"

Stiles gave him a look that clearly asked the agent why he was being so idiotic. "So, you're asking me to tell you what I wouldn't not tell you?"

"First, I have no idea what you just said," Rafael said calmly. "Second, how about you just help me help you?"

"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it," even Stiles was confused about his words, but he stuck to them.

Rafael furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Stiles sighed. "I don't know anything, okay? Can I just go?"

Rafael shook his head. "Where are your other friends?"

"You mean Scott?"

"I mean Scott," McCall took out his handy-dandy notebook and listed off all of Stiles' friends, excluding Olivia—he knew where she was—and including some that weren't his friends. "I mean Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, these twins Ethan and Aiden," he shut the notepad and put it back in his jacket. "I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up at school today."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "I don't have a clique."

_Especially not one with Ethan and Aiden and…Well, I guess Isaac's part of our pack of friends…_

"Stiles, come on," Rafael sighed, wishing he would just say something. "There's been a pretty disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last month, several murders tied to this school. I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious."

Stiles ducked his head again. McCall didn't have to tell him about what was going on. Stiles knew more about it than he did.

"And hey, your dad is missing," Rafael caught his attention; he lifted his head but didn't say anything. "Fine. But I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you can stay with tonight?"

"He's with me," a new, familiar, voice spoke up. Stiles and Agent McCall both looked over to the door where Deaton was standing, Olivia behind him. "Come on, Stiles."

Stiles eagerly jumped off the desk he was sitting and threw Agent McCall another glare before following Olivia and Dr. Deaton out of the classroom.

Olivia, Stiles, Allison, Isaac, and Lydia had all gathered in the exam room at the animal clinic with Dr. Deaton. Lydia had gone to see Derek and Peter, at Olivia's insistence, and asked them about the Nemeton, but according to them, Talia had taken those memories from them. That left them with no new leads on Jennifer or a location of the Nemeton, and the sun had already set. They had twenty-four hours to figure everything out.

"It has to be on a telluric current," Stiles declared, leaning against the stainless-steel cart in the middle of the room. "or maybe even at the axis of two or where they all intersect…"

"We just know that Derek took Paige to die there," Olivia finished.

"My dad and Gerard were there once," Allison told everyone from next to Olivia. "but Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."

"Yeah, mine either."

Olivia bit the inside of her cheek, and comfortingly rubbed Allison's back with one hand and Stiles' back with the other. She didn't know if it was comforting but she wanted to show her support for them anyway.

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac spoke up.

The five of them looked over to Dr. Deaton, who had been pacing with a thoughtful expression the whole time they spoke.

"There might be a way," Dr. Deaton said finally. "but it's dangerous. We're going to need Scott."

Olivia immediately set to work on finding Scott's location. After only two minutes—she was getting much better at locating her pack members—Stiles and Dr. Deaton went to go find him. While she and the others waited for them to bring Scott back with them, she pulled herself into her map and tried to find Sheriff Stilinski, Ms. McCall, and Mr. Argent.

The whole thing was trickier than expected but she didn't care. Knowing that she was most connected to Stiles, she started with his tether. First, she dived deep down into it—while trying not to disturb Stiles, where he and Deaton were—and stayed there for a few seconds, getting used to the feeling of it. She pictured Noah and Stiles together, using one of the memories in which she had gone over to their house for pizza one night so Noah could get to know her better. She focused on them and their bond. Although Stiles and his dad didn't look much alike, their personalities were damn near the same, with a little less sarcasm on Noah's side. They really loved each other, and each one was the last family that the other had.

Once she was comfortable with both Stiles and Noah, she moved onto Noah by himself. Something about Noah just screamed green to her, but that was nice. Green was warm and comforting and that fit him. And when she saw a faded green dot in front of her, she knew that it was him. The thing was, the dot was dull and blurry—she couldn't see him properly. She tried going further toward him but she couldn't move. Something was keeping her back.

She cursed under her breath as she opened her, realizing what was happening. Lydia, Allison, and Isaac were all looking at her expectantly, wanting to know if she got anything. "Jennifer," she scowled. "I think she's blocking me somehow."

"Then we will have to go through with the plan. It's our last choice," Dr. Deaton entered the exam room, followed by Stiles and Scott.

"Yeah, what exactly is this plan?" Lydia asked curiously. Dr. Deaton and Stiles had left before the former was able to explain the plan.

"Essentially, Scott, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for their parents," Deaton explained.

"They're going to die for them?" Olivia asked, furrowing their eyebrows. She wouldn't be able to handle that. Stiles was the love of her life, Allison was one of her best friends, and Scott was a friend to her as well. Three members of her pack, three people that she loved and cared about would be gone.

Stiles, it seemed, could read her mind. "He can bring us back," he assured her, crossing the room to pull her into his side. He glanced at Deaton to make sure, "You _can_ bring us back, right?"

Dr. Deaton pulled a half-grimace. "You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" everyone nodded. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds, but there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time."

"This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural, the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with," he said seriously, finishing up. "It will draw them here, like a beacon."

Olivia wondered if the Nemeton was the reason that their town was named Beacon Hills in the first place. If it had been a long time since the Nemeton had power, it might have been. The Hales had always been a prominent family in Beacon Hills for over a century, so it was entirely possible if they had named the town themselves.

Stiles shrugged. "Doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen."

Deaton shook his head. "You'd be surprised at what you have yet to see."

"Is that it?" Allison asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"No, it will also have an effect on the three of you," Deaton answered her. "You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of darkness around your heart and permanent, like a scar."

"Like a tattoo," Scott mused thoughtfully.

Stiles, Scott, and Allison were allowed to leave the animal clinic to head back to their homes to grab a token that represented their parents. While they did that, Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Deaton got to work on setting things up for the ritual.

The set-up was much like the one that they used for Isaac's when they were trying to find Boyd and Erica. There were three large tubs this time and each one was filled to the brim with water, ice, and herbs that Dr. Deaton had mixed for them. While Lydia and Isaac continued working, Dr. Deaton pulled Olivia aside.

He told her that, unlike Isaac's ritual, she wouldn't be able to help with this one. When Olivia heard his explanation, she agreed. Because Stiles, Allison, and Scott would be dead—at the minimum for a few seconds—she wouldn't be in the best shape. Deaton even told her that she may be out of it for a period of time while they were gone, if they were gone for more than a few seconds or even minutes. Honestly, it scared Olivia. She felt the whole in her heart desperately when Boyd died. It was undoubtedly going to be worse when the ritual started.

When Stiles and Scott came back, followed shortly by Allison, Olivia went straight to Stiles and wrapped her arms around his waist. He had to know that she was nervous about the whole thing because he wrapped his arms around her, too, and whispered soothing words into her ears.

"All right," Dr. Deaton said once the tubs were ready to go. "What did you bring?"

Stiles unhooked one arm from around Olivia and dug his hand into his jacket pocket. "Um, I got by dad's badge," he told everyone, staring at it sadly. "Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning," Deaton assured him.

Stiles nodded and pressed his lips together.

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac spoke up, looking at the token that Allison was holding.

Allison nodded. "My dad made it. It's a kind of ceremonial thing," she explained. "When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

"Scott?"

Scott held up a dainty watch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital," he scoffed lightly. "She used to say it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

"Okay," Dr. Deaton started to explain what they needed to do. "the three of you will get in. Olivia, Lydia, and Isaac will each hold you down until you're essentially…Well, dead. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back, someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."

Olivia quickly looked up. "Did you say emotional tether?"

When Deaton nodded, Olivia and Stiles shared a knowing look. Stiles was the only one she told about her knew system of keeping track of her pack and how it worked much better than before. The fact that Deaton was mentioning an emotional tether like the ones she used couldn't be a coincidence.

Had she been led to start thinking of her attachments to the pack as tethers for a reason? The answer seemed to be yes. Olivia didn't know if she be freaked out or relieved that she was understanding her abilities better.

"Lydia," Deaton called out the redhead's name when she went to stand by Allison. "you go with Scott."

Olivia and Stiles shared another look, both of them shocked at the turn of events. Olivia looked back at her cousin with a questioning look but Lydia steadfastly ignored her as she went to take her place by a very surprised Scott.

Scott…and…Lydia? What was going on here?

_They'd be cute together, though_, Olivia admitted to herself.

Allison looked between one of her best friends and her former boyfriend, confused. "Are you sure?" she asked Deaton. "I mean, I have to go under, too. And Isaac—"

"Isaac will go with you," Dr. Deaton told her. "Olivia, you'll be with Stiles."

Well, that wasn't a shock. Isaac and Allison and Scott and Lydia, though? What a plot twist.

Before the ritual began, Olivia made sure to take Stiles aside for a second.

"If you stay dead, I'm gonna kill you," she warned Stiles, making him laugh through his nerves. "I'm completely serious, Stiles."

"I know you are," he smirked down at her. "It's gonna be fine, though. I love you, baby."

Olivia didn't object to the pet name. He was going to be dead for a few seconds, so she'd let it slide. "I love you, too, sweetcheeks."

They quickly kissed and Stiles placed an extra one on her temple, his lips quirking into a knowing smile. Olivia may be hard to read for other people, but it was easy for him to figure out what was going on in that stubborn head of hers.

They both made their way back into the exam room. Olivia squeezed Allison's hand meaningfully and smiled at Scott, wishing them a good luck without words. Then, they all lined up at their respective tubs.

Allison was the first one to step in, deeply inhaling at the freezing cold water. Scott got into his tub as well. Stiles looked back at Olivia before he got into his tub and she gave him the most reassuring smile that she could. It worked for him, though; he stepped into the tub fearlessly.

They were all having trouble breathing from the freezing cold water as they fully submerged themselves. A second later, Olivia took her place behind Stiles with her hands on his shivering shoulders; Lydia and Isaac did the same for Scott and Allison, respectively.

Teeth chattering, Stiles looked to his left to speak to Scott. "By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your dad's in town."

Tears slipped down Olivia's cheeks as she pressed down on Stiles' shoulder at Deaton told them to begin. Stiles kicked and struggled underneath the water, but she kept going, knowing that this was what he wanted. It was just a little heartbreaking to keep him under.

Stiles, Scott, and Allison all stilled at the same time. Olivia didn't even have to let go, she collapsed under the weight of their nonpermanent deaths, slipping into nothingness.


	36. The Anchor and the True Alpha

**[3x12; Lunar Ellipse]**

"_Okay, like this?"_

_Allison giggled at Olivia, enjoying the way she held the Chinese ring daggers that the shorter brunette had insisted that Allison teach her how to use. Right now, Olivia held them loosely, the tip of the blades closer to cutting her wrists more than protecting herself. _

"_Stop laughing at me!" Olivia called her out with amused eyes. "I'm trying to be a badass like you!"_

"_I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Allison choked down the rest of her laughter. "Let's start over."_

_Olivia nodded and put the daggers back to the starting position that Allison had taught her. "Okay, now what?"_

"_Now, you twist them like this," Allison demonstrated the move with the set she was using. "and then you flip your wrists up and raise your arms like this."_

_Olivia did as Allison told her, wincing at the slight bruises starting to form around the base of her fingers. Chinese ring daggers were no joke and now she understood why Allison came to school with bandages around her fingers for a couple of weeks the previous semester of school. _

_She did the move sloppily, nowhere near as sharp as Allison's, of course, but that was expected. Allison nodded in approval, a small smile forming at her lips. "All right, keep practicing that," she said encouragingly. "Once you tighten that up, we can move onto the next move."_

"_Considering that I'm not athletic whatsoever, I think that went okay," Olivia breathed as she slipped the daggers off of her fingers. _

_Allison laughed. "Does that mean you want to try the crossbow?"_

"_Don't even think about it, Al!"_

_Olivia walked through the woods surrounding the old Hale House. They were training Jackson about control before he headed off to London, England. To say that he was being a bitch about it all would be an understatement. He was taking his temper out on her and Scott—he was upset about what he had done as the kanima, his brush with death, and the fact that his parents had found out what happened and were moving the family to London for no other reason than to get him away from everything supernatural. _

_Olivia could take his temper and his snide comments because she had seven or eight years to get used to it. Scott, however, did not. Too many comments about he used to suck at lacrosse and cheated the whole semester, how he used to have only Stiles as a friend, his mom's income, and Allison breaking up with him had gotten to Scott._

_He stomped away with golden eyes, leaving her to deal with Jackson on her own. Since she was still harnessing her own abilities, she just sent Jackson home for the day and then proceeded to go and find Scott. She found him by a small creek, sitting on the bank. _

"_Hey," she called as she walked over and sat down next to him. "You okay?"_

"_I'm fine," he told her quietly. "Just lost control for a second."_

"_Anyone would have. Jackson's a dickhead. I don't know how he has more two friends," she huffed out a laugh. "Other than me and Danny, I think the rest are just afraid of him."_

_Scott's lips quirked into a half-smile. "Probably," he hesitated. "Have you, uh, have you heard from Allison?"_

_Olivia frowned as she thought of her friend. "A couple of nights ago. She's not doing too well. I think Gerard messed her up just as much as her mom's death."_

"_He's a psycho," Scott agreed. "Did she ask you about me?"_

_She hesitated, not wanting to hurt his feelings—how had she become this empathetic person? "I'm sorry, Scott, but no," when Scott ducked his head, she reached for his hand and took it, trying to give him as much support as he needed. "I know it hurts but she's going through a tough time. And you're both different people now, you've both changed."_

"_So does that mean she won't want to get back together?" Scott asked miserably, lifting his head to look at her with wet eyes. _

"_I don't know," she answered honestly. "But, Scott, listen. I know you love her, I know you do. And what you had was amazing and odds-defying. But sometimes relationships don't last. It doesn't mean that those people don't love each other, but sometimes circumstances can alter the path of the relationship."_

_Scott frowned and looked back at the creek. "I really love her."_

"_I know," she squeezed his hand. "but sometimes love isn't enough. Then again, I can't predict the future. Allison may come back from France and want to get back together, she may not. I just want you to be ready for whatever she decides, okay?"_

"…_Okay," Scott said after a minute and then attempted to smile at her, changing the subject only slightly. "Are you a love guru or something, Liv?"_

_Olivia laughed. "Nah, I'm not so good at love."_

"_That's not what Stiles says."_

"_Hey," she slapped is arm playfully. "You guys talk about me?"_

"_A little too much—ow, Liv!"_

_Derek sighed reluctantly as he sat Olivia down on her bed, taking a seat in the armchair a few feet away. "Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you and Stiles—"_

"_Oh no. Oh, God, please don't do this," Olivia pleaded with her cousin, her cheeks warming up. "Derek just walk away."_

"_No, I have to get this out," Derek insisted. "You have no one else to tell you."_

"_Uh, yes I—"_

"_Obviously, you and Stiles are in a serious relationship," Derek interrupted her. "and with a serious relationship comes…personal relations."_

"_Personal relations?" she looked at him in disbelief. "What are you, eighty-five years old?"_

"_Fine, sex," Derek glared at her. "You and Stiles will start having sex."_

_Olivia sighed and though she appreciated that he was there to give her advice and take care of her, Natalie had given her and Lydia the typical parental sex talk when they were eleven and twelve and they got their periods around the same time. Then, a few years later, Lydia gave her an actual sex talk after her experiences with some boys and then Jackson—the kind of talk that was rated R and too inappropriate for parents to talk about with their kids. _

"_Now, you probably won't experience this, because I'm tempted to rip off Stiles arms if he doesn't keep his hands to himself, but," Derek winced, looking more uncomfortable than she felt. "but sex…is…natural."_

"_Derek, please…"_

"_Just let me get this out before I lose my nerve," Derek cut her off; Olivia nodded, her lips twisting in amusement. "Under no circumstances are you to have sex without a condom. Only when you're married and want to have a family is when it's accepted to go without."_

_Olivia hid her smile to nod seriously. "Okay."_

"_And never, ever do anything you're uncomfortable with," Derek continued. "If you say no, Stiles will stop if he's a good guy. If not, I put pepper spray on your keys and a rape whistle in your purse."_

"_Oh, God…"_

_Stiles was not a guy who would put his hands on anyone without their express permission. Usually he was a nervous wreck anyway if they did something sexual. And he was always respectful of her. But, if he was out of his mind or crazy enough to force her into relations—as Derek called it—than she would kick his ass. And then break up with him. She loved him but she loved herself too and she was not going to put up with that. _

_When Olivia nodded her understanding, Derek cleared his throat. "Now…"_

_He paused to pull something from behind his back. Olivia's mouth fell open when she saw what he had. "Oh, my God…please tell me that's not a banana and a condom, Der! Oh, my God, it is!" she winced and buried her burning face into her hands. "Please don't do this Derek."_

"_I want you to learn how to put on a condom."_

"_I didn't want to say this, but Derek, I've already had this talk, two different times, okay?" her voice was muffled by her hands, but Derek got the gist; he looked horrified. "Lydia even taught me how to put on a condom."_

_She almost added that she knew how to do it multiple ways, but Derek looked like he wanted to die from embarrassment from what he had already heard. _

_He glared at her. "Why did you let me ramble on?!"_

"_I didn't let you ramble on, you kept interrupting me!"_

"_You're grounded!"_

_A genuine laugh spilled from Olivia's lips. "You can't ground me!"_

"_Well, I just did, so there!"_

"_Top five favorite ice creams. Go."_

_Olivia blinked in surprise from Stiles' random prompt. They were on the beach, laying on their towels and trying to tan after a dip in the ocean. She raised up onto her elbows—she was laying on her stomach—and looked down at Stiles, from where he was laying on his back, hair halfway grown out and the black ray bans she gave him as a gift on the bridge of his nose. _

"_I don't like ice cream very much," she told him. _

"_There's not way you don't like ice cream," Stiles disagreed; she shook her head. "Come on, you don't even like chocolate-chip cookie dough?"_

"_I don't like raw cookie dough."_

"_Unbelievable. I'm in love with a heathen," Stiles joked. "So, not one ice cream?"_

"_I have two that I usually get if I actually want ice cream," she confessed. "I like vanilla and mint."_

_Stiles looked up at her in disbelief. "Vanilla and mint?" when she nodded, he scoffed. "Sorry, nope, I'm not dating a heathen, I'm dating a senior citizen."_

"_Hey!" she gently slapped his toned abdomen in offense. "I'm younger than you."_

"_Your favorite ice cream flavors are vanilla, which is the most basic out of all the flavors, and mint—without chocolate, by the way—which only adults eat. No offense, babe, but you need to live on the edge sometimes."_

_Olivia pinched his side because of the pet name and laughed. "Living on the edge is eating different ice cream flavors? Wow, what a life you live, Stiles."_

_He poked her in the cheek. "At least I don't have the personality of an old lady."_

"_Ouch, that really hurt."_

"_Hey, I'm just saying," Stiles put his hands up defensively. "All right, how about the worst five moments of your life?"_

_Olivia raised her eyebrows. "What a serious change of topic."_

"_Here, I'll pick a new one—"_

"_No, it's okay," she assured him. She leant toward him more and rested her head on his stomach, facing him. "Number five would be my very first day of school."_

"_Really?" that surprised Stiles. "You love school, though."_

"_I do now. Before I started school, I hung out with either Lydia, or Cora, Derek, and Laura," she shared with him. "They were all my heroes and my best friends. And I'm a year younger than Lydia and Cora, so I didn't start school with them and it made me so upset that I threw a fit."_

"_You, having a tantrum? Wow, I didn't expect that," Stiles commented sarcastically. _

"_I really was an angel," Olivia went along with him and then went back to the story. "Anyway, my mom started teaching me stuff because she was in college studying to be a teacher. By the time I went to preschool, I was too advanced and I was miserable because Lydia and Cora weren't with me."_

"_So they let you skip a grade."_

_Olivia nodded. "I tested out of preschool and went right to kindergarten."_

"_We had class together," Stiles remembered. "You were quiet."_

"_And you were weird," Olivia returned with a laugh. _

_Stiles joined in with her laughter. "All right, what about number four?"_

"_Number four was when I was seven years old and I realized that I wasn't able to draw," at the look Stiles gave her, she defended herself. "In my defense, I wanted to be an artist back then. And I was not good at art. At all. I was always jealous of Lydia's ability to do anything, especially draw."_

"_You shouldn't compare yourself to Lydia," Stiles scolded her quietly. "You're perfect, even with all your flaws."_

_Olivia smiled gently, touched by his words. "Thanks, Stiles."_

_They kept going with her worst moments in her life. Her third worst moment was when she and Cora got lost in the woods outside of the old Hale House when they were five or so. She had been really scared and Cora hadn't yet mastered her enhanced sense of smell, so they were stuck out there for four hours—when Talia and Peter had found them, they were grounded for two weeks. Her second worst moment was the night of winter formal, when Peter had bitten Lydia and herself. _

"_The worst moment of my life was when I heard about the fire," she said quietly, tracing the pattern of Stiles' freckles on his stomach. "Everyone but Laura and Derek were in the fire. They came to me and told me what happened. Our whole family was dead, my mom was dead, and my dad barely survived."_

_Stiles brushed his fingers through her hair; he knew what it felt like to lose a parent and he couldn't imagine what it was like to lose two at the same time—because she had lost Peter, too, even if he wasn't dead. He just turned into a psychotic alpha who wanted revenge without carrying about those closest to him. _

"_I was lost for a really long time," she admitted quietly. "Derek and Laura left for New York and I was suddenly living with Lydia, Uncle Thomas, and Aunt Natalie. But I eventually got better."_

"_Yeah, you did," Stiles gazed at her with soft, loving eyes. "and you're the strongest person I know."_

"_I'm not strong," she denied, avoiding his eyes. "I'm a coward. I hide my feelings away deep down inside of me. I act like a bitch to anyone I don't care about. Most of the time I'm an emotionless robot."_

"_No, you're not," Stiles sat up and simultaneously adjusted her until she was sitting in his lap. "The people who say you're emotionless don't take the time to pay attention to you. I'm sorry, Livvy, but you're actually very easy to read."_

_Olivia gaped at him, unsure if she should be insulted or relieved. Maybe it was a little bit of both; she was a little insulted because her emotionless robot mask was a comfort to her and not to mention, something to push away all of her negative feelings. On the other hand, it was special to her that Stiles was able to read her so soundly. The only other people who had been able to were Lydia and Derek but Stiles being able to, the boy she loved…that was amazing. _

"_I love you."_

"_I love you, too," Stiles emphasized his words with a quick but loving kiss. "Okay, that's enough seriousness for now."_

"_Mmm, I agree," Olivia smiled at him. _

"_So, how about…your top five pizza toppings?"_

"_Well, number one is pepperoni…"_

"_Ah, what a classic."_

Olivia woke up eight hours after Stiles, Scott, and Allison had fallen unconscious. Lydia and Isaac were sound asleep but Dr. Deaton was awake and there to greet her when she woke up. She was disoriented, the memories with Allison, Scott, Derek, and Stiles going through her mind like flashes.

She didn't tell Deaton about the memories, but instead thought on them. It didn't take long to realize that one of those memories were unlike the other. Derek hadn't been in the ritual like the others, so why did she see him?

It worried her. It worried her so much that she excused herself from the exam room and called Derek. It was Cora who answered the call, shockingly—she had no idea how Cora was better but boy, was she glad that she was. She told Cora that she was worried about Derek and in return, Cora told her just how she hadn't gotten better. Derek had given up his alpha status to heal Cora; he was now a beta again and very, very weak at the moment.

Olivia checked her tethers and she saw that Cora was right. Derek's tether was bright blue again, like the color of his eyes before he killed Peter and became an alpha. It was strange, but it was more worrying than the memory she had. Kali and the twins were supposed to come for Derek before the lunar eclipse and not only was he not an alpha anymore, but he was tired from healing Cora. He was screwed.

She told Cora that she would call back soon before hanging up. Then, she cried. She cried for Derek, she cried for Stiles and Allison and Scott, for Noah, Melissa, and Argent, and finally, for herself.

The whispers in her head were loud and they were pressing. She could no longer focus on anything but the names of her loved ones and the pain that filled her heart from her loss, even if Stiles, Scott, and Allison came back. She had the potential of losing the boyfriend she loved, two friends, and Derek, her protector, guardian, and father-figure for all intents and purposes.

It was not okay. None of this was okay.

_Stiles, Allison, Scott…Derek, Derek, Derek…Stiles, Allison, Scott…Over_ and over, came the whispers until a migraine grew and she fell asleep once again.

She woke up only three hours later, more collected. She stayed seated in between Isaac and Lydia, who had now woken up for the day, and they all listened to assurances from Dr. Deaton that Stiles, Scott, and Allison would be okay. There was worry in his voice but somehow, his words comforted them. Olivia had the feeling that the man could give someone the worst news of their life and still be a comfort.

It was eight hours after the first time Olivia woke up, sixteen hours after they first fell unconscious, when Stiles, Allison, and Scott all woke, sitting up out of the water with loud gasps. Olivia, Lydia, Isaac, and Deaton rushed over to the tubs, the ice long gone, and handed the three of them towels.

"I saw it, I know where it is!" Scott claimed, taking the towel that Lydia held out for him.

Stiles nodded. "We passed it," Stiles confirmed as he climbed out of the tub soaking wet. "There's—there's a stump, this huge tree. Well, it's not huge anymore, it was cut down. But it's still big, though, very big."

As Olivia wrapped a towel around him, Scott added, "It was the night we were looking for the body."

"Yeah, the same night you were bit by Peter."

"I was there, too, in the car with my mother," Allison was still sucking in huge gulps of air. "We almost hit someone."

"It was me. You almost hit me," Scott told her; Allison gasped in amazement while he turned to the others. "We can find it."

Olivia, Lydia, and Isaac all exchanged worried looks. It didn't go unnoticed by Allison, Scott, and Stiles.

"What?" Allison asked them.

Isaac was the one to answer them. "You guys were out a long time."

"How long is a long time?" Stiles wondered, glancing between the three of them and then over to Dr. Deaton.

"Sixteen hours," Deaton broke the news.

Scott's eyes widened in shock. "We've been in the water for sixteen hours?"

Dr. Deaton nodded. "And the full moon rises in less than four."

Scott sighed heavily and sat down on the rim of his tub. "I have to go back to the alpha pack."

Olivia gulped uncomfortably and spoke up, "I think I should go with you, too."

Scott looked at her with an understanding expression and nodded slowly.

"No, dude, you are not going back with them," Stiles told Scott firmly before pointing to Olivia. "And you, don't even think about it, all right?"

"I made a deal with Deucalion," Scott reminded him. "And he wants Olivia, too. A lot."

Stiles scoffed. "Does anyone else think that sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?"

"What does it matter, anyway?" Isaac piped up from his seat next to Allison.

"Because I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help."

Allison shook her head at Scott's answer and turned to Dr. Deaton pleadingly. "He trusts you more than anyone and Liv is obviously going to agree with him. Tell them they're wrong."

Deaton glanced at Olivia and then Scott. "I'm not so sure they are," he admitted. "Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies."

"So we're gonna trust Deucalion?" Isaac shook his head in disbelief. "The guy that calls himself death, destroyer of worlds? We're gonna trust that guy?

"I wouldn't trust him, no," Deaton advised and gestured to Olivia and Scott. "But you guys could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may be the enemy, but he could also be the bait."

They all paused as they heard the door to the lobby open. Deaton went out first, and when they heard Ethan's voice, Olivia, Lydia, Stiles, and Scott joined him.

"I'm looking for Lydia," he told them.

Lydia looked at him expectantly. "What do you want?"

"I need your help."

Olivia gave him a suspicious look. "With what?"

"Stopping my brother and Kali," he paused only for a second. "from killing Derek."

Olivia lifted her chin, all of her concern for Derek coming back into focus. Stiles, Scott, and Allison were all right, but what about Derek? His tether was still shining bright blue and although it wasn't enough to take all of her focus, his name was still floating around in her head.

"You should go, Lydia," Olivia cleared her throat. She had never liked Lydia's relationship—if anyone could even call it that—with Aiden, but there was at least one benefit from it, other than Lydia's happiness. And it was that Lydia had a hold over him. If she could convince Aiden to not kill Derek, then maybe he had a shot at surviving.

Lydia looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you sure?"

"All day, I've been hearing warnings about Derek," she confessed, glancing at Ethan. "I don't know if he's going to survive or not, but if you can convince Aiden, maybe…"

"We'll turn against Kali," Ethan spoke up in agreement with her. "We won't let her kill Derek."

Lydia didn't think it over very long, but that was Lydia; she was brave. "Okay," she agreed and gave Olivia a quick hug. "Just be careful."

"No, you be careful," Olivia insisted; Lydia smiled at her and when she walked out the door with Ethan, she turned back to the others. "Okay, what's the plan?"

"Just grab anything," Scott told Stiles through the phone as he, Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got out of the elevator in Allison's building and headed to her apartment door. "Stiles, I'm not smelling your dad's boxers. Socks? Okay, I'll smell the socks."

He ended the call and as Allison unlocked the door, Isaac asked, "What about me?"

"See what you can find in my dad's closet," the door opened and they all filed in. "Anything with the strongest scent."

Allison opened the door to her dad's office and stopped in her tracks, making Olivia, who was right behind her, slam into her. In the office was Agent McCall and two deputies, waiting for them at the desk.

"Quite the arsenal your fathers got here, young lady," as McCall spoke, Scott came up behind Olivia and stared at his dad in shock. "Scott."

Scott carefully squeezed past Olivia and Allison to enter the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Following one of the only leads I have," McCall stood from Mr. Argent's desk chair. "Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat and we can talk? You too, Isaac."

Isaac, who had been hiding in the hallway, came and stood next to Olivia. "How do you know my name?"

"Your name's one of the few things I know," McCall told him. "To be honest, the rest of what's going on around here has be stumbling in the dark, even over the smallest clue."

"If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue, I learned that a long time ago," Scott glared at his dad.

"I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room," McCall said firmly, meaning business. "Really hoping."

Olivia, Allison, and Isaac entered the office. Scott and Isaac let Olivia and Allison take the chairs and stood behind them. None of them were taking this very seriously; Isaac was eating some Icebreaker mints, for crying out loud.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little disturbed," McCall admitted. "Not only by the number of missing parents, but the fact that it's Stiles' father, your father, and your mother."

Isaac shut his case of mints, popped one more into his mouth, and said, "Mine are both dead."

"Mine too," Olivia added, though, technically, that wasn't true. As far as anyone outside their little supernatural circle knew, Peter had disappeared from the long-term care unit in the hospital and had never been recovered.

"Save the cliché teenage apathy for your high school teachers," McCall glared at them. Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. _What a dick._ "The four of you know more than you're saying and I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to."

"We don't know anything," Scott emphasized. "Stiles already told you that."

"And you can't keep us here," Olivia glared at the giant McCall, recalling some of the information her Uncle Thomas told her about his job. "Not without some kind of warrant."

Agent McCall gestured to the desk full of weapons. "I've got a desk full of probable cause."

Allison scoffed quietly and stood from her chair. "My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer. That means he has to own a few weapons," she told them as she stepped toward the desk. She pointed to a large crossbow and then a huge knife. "Like this one hundred and seventy-five-pound tactical crossbow or this carbon steel marine combat knife," she then poked at one of the handguns. ".50AE Desert Eagle…"

She stopped for a moment and hummed before picking up a smoke grenade. "A smoke grenade with pull-ring igniter," she pulled the ring and threw the grenade toward McCall and the deputies. "Go!"

Olivia, Scott, and Isaac all scrambled out of the office after her, ducking to avoid the smoke currently choking up McCall and the others. Olivia, Allison, and Isaac got into Allison's car and Scott sat on his motorbike and drove away from the apartment. They only stopped when they reached the woods, where a sign prohibited entrance to the preserve after dark.

As Olivia got out of the car, a scream ripped its way out of her throat. She didn't even notice that Isaac and Scott immediately covered their eyes, too focused on the feelings that overwhelmed her. Not only had Stiles gotten hurt—and she didn't know how, which worried her all the more—but Lydia was screaming and she felt everything her cousin felt. Someone was dead, more than one person was dead.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" Allison grabbed Olivia's hands, which were covering her ears, and pulled them away from her head as she stopped screaming. "Olivia?"

"Stiles is hurt," Olivia croaked, her throat now in horrible pain from the combination of the garrote and the loud scream that had escaped her. "And Lydia, she screamed. Someone's dead."

"Is it Derek or Stiles?" Scott asked worriedly.

"No, I would have known if it was," the tether that connected her with Derek wasn't lit and Stiles was, though it wasn't a dangerous feeling that came from it. "It's someone else. Maybe one of the alphas."

"I'll call Stiles and you can call Derek," Isaac offered.

Olivia nodded in agreement and pulled out her phone, quickly pressing on Derek's contact to call him.

"_Ollie, what's wrong?"_ Derek answered a hint of panic in his voice. _"We were on out way out of Beacon Hills when we heard Lydia scream."_

"I think one of more of the alphas are dead," she told him. "Are you okay? Did you get out in time?"

"_We did_," Derek confirmed. "_but we're heading back to the loft now to check on Lydia. I'll call you, okay?"_

"Okay, be careful, both of you," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek. "Love you."

"_Love you, Ollie_," both Derek and Cora chorused before ending the call.

"I didn't get anything from Stiles," Isaac walked up to her side, giving her a worried look. "Did you get Derek?"

"Yeah, he's okay for now. He and Cora are going back to the loft to check on Lydia," Olivia told him as Scott and Allison walked over to them. "What if Stiles…?"

"He's not," Scott tried to comfort her. "I don't get it, though."

"Well, we can't wait for him," Isaac decided. "Come on."

They all turned away from the vehicles, only to come face-to-face with Deucalion. "You're cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?"

"We got a little delayed," Scott informed him. "Where are the others?"

They knew that one of them, if not all three of them, had died. When Deucalion spoke, he only confirmed it, unbeknownst to him. "Occupying themselves with other pursuits."

Olivia inhaled deeply and steeled her nerves, speaking up, "Well, I've come with Scott to join you. If you'll still have me, of course."

_God, I can't believe I'm sucking up to a blind, psychotic, alpha werewolf_, she lamented privately.

"Of course, you're still welcome," Deucalion said pleasantly. "You, Scott, and I will made a good team."

Olivia exchanged a nervous look with Scott before he turned to Allison and Isaac. "Okay, get Stiles and then get to the root cellar, okay?" he told them. "We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you gonna do that?" Isaac wondered.

"I have a plan."

"Sir," Olivia spoke up uncomfortably. "Uh, Mr. Deucalion."

"Please, just call me Deucalion, Olivia," he chuckled pleasantly as they walked through the woods, heading to an unknown location.

"_Deucalion_, right," she corrected herself, ignoring the half-amused look that Scott was giving her. "I just wanted to know why you wanted me as part of your pack. I mean, other than the fact that I'm an anchoram."

"Anchorams are rare, as you likely know. But what you may not know, is that they are immensely powerful. You've harnessed most of your powers, yes?" he glanced at her, even though he most likely couldn't see her (Scott had told her what Gerard told him about Deucalion; he wasn't always blind).

"Some. I can calm a werewolf down if they're losing control, or use that same ability against them during a fight," Olivia shared her progress. "I know when my pack members are in danger or close to death and I know how to locate them."

"But's only for your pack mates," Deucalion said knowingly. "One day, when you master those abilities, you'll go on until you've unlocked them all."

"What do you mean?"

"At the height of your powers, you will be able to locate any supernatural creature in the world. You'll be able to use their strengths against them, like you do for werewolves now. You can physically make a werewolf lose their lycanthropy, making them human again," Deucalion listed, the most recent ability making Olivia and Scott shared a look of shock. "And, of course, using the banshee side of you, you will be able to predict the death of anyone you hold dear to your heart, not just your pack mates. Every anchoram is different, though."

She could hardly believe the magnitude of her abilities. In all honestly, it sounded like a lot. Maybe too much. "How do you know all of this?"

"My great-great-great-grandmother's mother was an anchoram," Deucalion told her. "Her name was Marguerite Richardson, nee Hale."

Olivia looked at him in surprise. "We're related?"

"Very distantly. I used to be great friends with your aunt."

"Wow."

She honestly didn't know how to react to that.

She and Deucalion fell silent and the three of them continued walking. The storm got progressively worse the more they walked on. The wind was strong, the rain felt like glass against their skin, and it was so dark Olivia was having trouble seeing, using only the outlines of Scott and Deucalion to keep going.

Finally, though they entered a distillery. The one that Derek and Paige used go when they wanted private time.

"You said you had a plan," Deucalion reminded Scott once they were under the protection of the metal roof.

"On the first day of class, Jennifer sent all of us a message. It was the last line from Joseph Conrad's _Heart of Darkness,"_ Scott told him. "I got a message of my own to send to her."

He proceeded to take out his phone and gave it to Olivia so she could film him. He stood in front of the revenge symbol that they all had seen many times before, and Olivia started filming.

"See this symbol?" he pointed at the swirl all the while glaring at the camera. "It's a symbol of revenge. You talk about balance, about saving people? We know what you really want…And now, you know where to find us."

Olivia stopped filming and handed the phone back to Scott, who sent the message to Jennifer right away.

"And now, we wait," Deucalion sighed.

They only waited ten minutes until they came. Yes, they; Derek was with Jennifer. It confused the hell out of Olivia. Was Jennifer forcing him onto her side? Was he actually on her side? Was he acting like he was on Jennifer's side to catch her off guard while he was really on their side?"

"Derek," she breathed. "what are you doing?"

"This might be hard to believe, but I'm actually trying to help you both," Derek eyed her and Scott meaningfully.

He was fooling Jennifer, he was actually on their side—not Deucalion's, Olivia's and Scott's side.

"Ooh, like brother against brother…and sister," Deucalion commented, almost tiredly. "How very American this is," he faced Jennifer as he brought together his seeing cane. "Are you ready, Jennifer, hmm? Did you gather your herbs, pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees, slit a baby's throat, perhaps? Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me? …Or is it twelve now?"

Deucalion's eyes glowed red and his wolf features appeared on his face. Surprisingly, Derek was the one to make the first move. He swiped his arm at him, but Deucalion simply grabbed the arm, and then the other one. With Derek trapped, Jennifer went up to the plate. Using whatever powers she had, she threw them at Deucalion, expecting them to work.

Except they didn't.

As Scott slipped something into Olivia's hand, she closed her eyes and brought up her tether map. She found Deucalion easily this time, in between Derek's bright blue and Scott's orange tethers. It didn't surprise her, since Deucalion was clearly the most powerful werewolf she'd come across—it made since that he was easy to find. What would be hard, however, was fighting to use his control against him.

She heard grunts and groans from Jennifer and Derek as she focused on Deucalion's deep red dot, which was also larger than her the other werewolves she had come across. Despite how tired she was, both physically and mentally, she used all the power she had left to hit his dot with her bright purple blasts. She hit him but he actually was able to push back against her, forcefully making her take a step back.

She gritted her teeth and raised her hands toward him. She felt her power build within her and she projected it toward him. For a second, just a second, his features started to fade, long enough for Derek to knock him over. Then he was back up and throwing Derek across the distillery and then stomping toward Jennifer and lifting her up by the neck.

He forced her down on her knees in front of Scott. "Kill her," he ordered Scott, his voice demonic. "Do it."

Scott didn't move, though, and that pissed Deucalion off. He roared loudly, so powerfully that Olivia had to fight to stand and Scott dropped to the floor, his wolf features out on display.

"Now kill her," Deucalion demanded once again. "Your parents are dying. That storm you hear, she's burying them alive. It's her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends."

"It won't end," Jennifer objected forcefully. "Not with me. He'll have you kill everyone you love. It's what he does."

"They're dying, Scott," Deucalion tried to get Scott back on his side. "Your mother and the parents of your best friends. Kill her now and it's over. Become the alpha you were meant to be. Become a killer."

"_Scott_."

The firm way in which Olivia said her friend's name made him stiffen. She knew that she had given him some control over the shift that Deucalion forced upon him. They both knew that if Scott killed Jennifer, he would no longer be a true alpha. And that was exactly what Deucalion wanted from him.

Scott glared at Deucalion. "They're not dead yet."

"Who's going to save them? Your friends?"

Scott shook his head and said determinately, "My pack."

Deucalion looked at him for only a moment before he threw Jennifer to the side and raced over to Scott, snarling furiously. He grabbed one of Scott's clawed hands and held it up, forcing him to hold it out.

"Maybe you just need a little guidance," he gritted through his teeth, guiding him over to Jennifer.

At once, Olivia had her hands up again, the arrow tip that Scott had given her, which he snagged from Allison's apartment, in one hand. She pulled together her power. Her anger and fear and all that anxiety that had piled up inside adding to it.

She screamed as her power blasted itself into her tether map and right at Deucalion's dot. His grip on Scott immediately faltered so much that Scott managed to free himself and he staggered, blinking rapidly. \

"Scott!"

"I forgot to tell you something," Scott spoke loudly over the grunts that Deucalion forced out of his lips while he struggled to fight off Olivia's attack. "Something that Gerard told me. Deucalion isn't always blind."

At the same time as Scott, Olivia threw her arrowhead at the concrete by Deucalion's feet. Both of the arrowheads were flash bolts; they lit up at contact and Deucalion practically fell on the floor. Olivia winced at the bright light, obviously effected by the bolts, but not like Derek, Scott, and Deucalion were, and dropped her hands, more than a little tired out.

It didn't help that the lunar eclipse had started. Like werewolves lost their power during the eclipse, it appeared that she did too. She leaned one hand against the wall as Derek ran over to her, allowing him to steady her.

On all three werewolves, their features had gone away.

"The eclipse," Deucalion stumbled to his feet. "it started."

They all noticed that Jennifer was gone at the same time. As they all looked over to the entrance of the distillery, Scott whispered, "Oh, no."

Jennifer dramatically entered the distillery, her disguise of a beautiful face gone. She was also wearing a completely different outfit from before, which was pretty weird. Olivia didn't know how she changed within a minute and she had to admit she liked the outfit Jennifer was wearing before more than the one she was wearing now.

She shrieked as she held a handout to Scott and threw him against the wall. She didn't make a move toward Olivia, which had to do with the fact that she was leaning against Derek, but went straight to Deucalion. He fell to the floor and Jennifer was there beside him within a second, grabbing his head and bashing it against the concrete repeatedly.

Blood had started pouring out of the wound at the back of Deucalion's head and his eyes rolled back into his head before Derek interfered. "Jennifer!" she stopped and looked back at him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?" she growled back at him.

"What you really look like," Derek told her. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack, but he's never seen the price you paid."

Jennifer paused for a full minute. "No. No, he hasn't," she said finally before turning her attention to Deucalion. She placed her hand over Deucalion's eyes and she must have healed them because he started to scream in pain. When Jennifer released him from her grip and stood up, she ordered him, "Turn to me. Turn to me!"

When Deucalion turned to face Jennifer, his blue eyes were no longer cloudy. Honestly, he didn't react too badly to Jennifer's real face. It didn't seem to be therapeutic for Jennifer like she thought it would be. She changed back to her fake face and pulled her right arm back to finally kill the alpha.

But instead, she faltered. Derek let go of Olivia, gesturing over at Scott to take his place since she didn't have much of her energy back, and walked over to Jennifer and caught her.

"What is this?" she asked weakly.

"Healing him made you weak, just like healing Cora did to me," Derek informed her. "You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes."

"Then you do it," Jennifer's voice broke. "Kill him."

"No."

She looked at Derek, surprised, while Olivia smiled proudly. "What?"

"Like my mother used to say, I'm a predator. I don't have to be a killer," Derek moved his hand from her back up to her neck, squeezing it tightly. "Let them go."

Jennifer struggled with his grip and gained enough of her strength back to throw Derek a few feet away from her. He landed against a random bale of hay and raced to him, punching him forcefully in the face, two times, then three times.

Olivia threw herself out of Scott's arms and into the line of fire. She pushed Derek away, knowing that the eclipse would end at any second, and received the blow that was meant for him to the face. Her head reared by from the hit, but she managed to kick Jennifer away from her.

At that moment, Olivia felt her powers rush back into her body. It felt like a vibration. Something that she had gotten so used to being there, she hadn't noticed it. The eclipse was over and Derek and Scott had their powers back—and so did Deucalion.

Derek flew through the air and hit Jennifer, holding her against the floor. "Your fifteen minutes are up."

Jennifer managed to get up and dodged the attack that Scott gave her. Before either of them do anything else, she had taken some mountain ash from her pocket and threw it around her, creating a barrier that would protect her from Scott, Derek, and Deucalion.

"Like I told you, Derek, either you or the parents," Jennifer said nastily. Apparently all of her "love" for Derek was gone. "Well, I guess I'll just have to take them now. In a few minutes, they'll be dead and I won't need a lunar eclipse, even to kill a demon wolf."

Derek and Olivia exchanged a horrified look. By the time they looked away, Scott had stormed over to the circle of mountain ash and held his hands up, pushing them against the supernatural barrier between him and Jennifer.

"You've tried this before, Scott," Jennifer taunted him. "I don't remember you having much success."

Scott pushed harder at the barrier, his body leaning further and further into it. Blue light streaked past his body as he broke into it, getting a hand through. The more he pushed through the barrier, the brighter his tether looked in Olivia's head, until finally, it turned a deep, alpha-werewolf red.

The barrier fell apart. Scott was an alpha.

Jennifer had fallen to the floor from the small eruption that occurred when the mountain ash barrier broke. She frantically crawled away from Scott, looking up at him with horrified amazement. "How did you do that?"

Scott glowered down at her. "I'm an alpha now," he said powerfully. "Whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

"It won't change the color of mine, so allow me," Deucalion growled as he strode past Scott. With one swift move, he threw his clawed hand forward and slit the length of Jennifer's throat. She choked on her own blood and she slumped down onto the ground, dead. Olivia was not reluctant to admit that she was glad to see Jennifer dead.

As soon as Jennifer's heart stopped, the storm above them ceased. Olivia slowly reached for her pocket, the blood loss from the blow she received on her face from Jennifer making her sluggish, and called Stiles, hoping that he and everyone else was uninjured and safe.

"_Olivia?"_

"Hi," Olivia sighed in relief from just hearing his voice. "are you okay?"

"_Yeah, we're okay,"_ he confirmed. "_We're all okay. What about you and Scott, are you okay?"_

Olivia glanced at Scott and Derek, who stood close together discussing something. "Sort of."

"_Do you think you and Scott could come and get us?"_

"Yeah, of course."

"_Great_," Stiles huffed out a laugh. _"And, uh, bring a ladder."_

"I'll get right on that," Olivia giggled. "Hang tight. We'll be there soon."

Derek walked over to her as she ended the call, bent down, and helped her to her feet. He wrapped an arm around her and let her lean all of her weight against him while they walked over to Scott, who was standing in front of Deucalion with a stern look on his face.

"My mother told me you were a man of vision once," Derek told Deucalion, his voice strong. "We're letting you go because we hope you can be that man again."

"But if you're not, then having your eyesight back won't matter," Scott threatened him. "because you'll never see us coming."

With that, the three of them turned around and left the distillery.

Unfortunately, Olivia ended up in the hospital once everything was over. Because of Jennifer's strength, she had a concussion and the bruising around her neck was worse than she, or anyone, thought. She only stayed for one night and by the next morning, she was itching to get out of there. She wasn't a fan of hospitals, especially Beacon Hills Memorial—no offense meant to Melissa.

That morning, only two hours before Natalie was supposed to come and get her checked out, Derek and Cora interrupted her and Stiles' conversation. Just by the looks on their faces, she didn't like what they were going to tell her.

Yeah, she _really_ didn't like it.

Cora was the first to speak. "Ollie—"

"You're leaving again, aren't you?" Olivia interrupted her, recognizing the guilt on her face.

"I am," Cora confirmed with a slight nod. "With Derek no longer an alpha and Boyd gone…I can't stay. I don't really…get along with your friends."

Olivia frowned but ultimately, she knew Cora had found a good life down in South America where she had been living for the past six and a half years. She was going to miss her fiercely, especially since she just discovered that she was alive, but she had to let Cora go so she could be happy.

"You'll call, right?" Olivia asked finally.

"Of course I will," Cora leaned forward and gave her a goodbye hug. "I love you, Ollie."

"I love you, too," she said as Cora pulled back. She looked at Derek and added, "Let me guess, you're going with her."

"Just dropping her off," Derek corrected her. "Peter's coming too."

"And you're coming back?" she checked, a little worried that they wouldn't be back and she'd lose her Hale family members all in one go.

Derek heard her heart start to race. "We'll come back," he confirmed taking her head and squeezing it. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," Olivia finished the quote, thanking whatever supreme being that was out there for Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, and the friendship that came out of _Captain America: The First Avenger_. "I love you, Der."

"I love you, too, Ollie," he promised. "We'll send Stiles back in. Remember what I told you—"

"Wear a condom, yeah I got it."

"Actually, I was going to remind you about the pepper spray and rape whistle."

"Get out of here!" Olivia took the paper cup she had been drinking out of and threw it at Derek, who caught it easily.

Derek laughed and he and Cora left the room, giving her one last goodbye. Her smile slipped from her lips as she watched them walk away, but she wasn't able to be sad for long. Stiles had waltzed right back into the room and took his seat on the chair next to her bed.

"So," he grinned at her. "We defeated Jennifer and Deucalion is no longer his evil self. You know what that means?"

"No, but I bet you're going to tell me," she smiled back at him.

Stiles chuckled. "I am. It's time to get engaged."

"Ha! Very funny, sweetcheeks."


	37. Nothing Good

**[3x13; Anchors]**

"_Okay, so, you go like this," Stiles instructed Olivia, a nimble string of blue yarn twisted between his fingertips. He flipped one bit of the yarn over the other and made a loop, quickly tying it into a knot. _

_Olivia copied him, rolling her own yarn, a deep emerald green, into a knot. _

"_Now you slip the needle in like so," Stiles demonstrated with Olivia following his movements. "Good and then you do this," he slipped the yarn through the fingers of his other hand and looped it through his first loop. "No, not like that. Like this…"_

_Olivia sighed in frustration. "Why do I even have to learn how to crochet, Stiles?"_

"_Because I know how to crochet."_

"_Why do you know how to crochet?"_

"_Because it keeps my hands busy," Stiles informed her as he kept working at his yarn. "Plus, you know we have to get these mittens ready for Cornelius before winter comes otherwise his toes will get cold."_

_Olivia turned away from Stiles, where he was sitting on his couch, and looked out the window. Out in the backyard, sat the T-Rex that had imprinted on Stiles like a baby duck, knocking around a soccer ball with his tail. Cornelius was gentle for his species, but when Olivia told Stiles that he should get a pet, she had expected him to pick out a dog so Sirius could have a friend to play with. _

_Unfortunately, all Cornelius wanted to do with Sirius was eat him. _

"_Don't let them in."_

_Olivia turned back to Stiles. "What?"_

"_Don't let them in. Don't let them in!"_

_Before Olivia could even begin deciphering Stiles' words, the doorbell rung._

_Giving Stiles a bewildered look, Olivia stood from the couch and wandered into the Stilinski's foyer in order to answer the door. She was pleased to see that it was Allison. _

"_Al, come on in," she said happily. _

"_Thanks, Liv," Allison grinned back at her. "Do you mind if Kate comes in, too?"_

_Dark storm clouds rolled in over the horizon as Allison walked into the house, revealing Kate Argent behind her. The older blonde smirked evilly at Olivia as lighting crackled just a few hundred feet in front of the house, followed quickly by a deep roll of thunder. _

"_Goody," Kate wrinkled her nose in delight. "Another Hale."_

_Heart racing, Olivia quickly slammed the door shut in Kate's face. She stumbled away from the door, pivoting so she could run and tell Stiles about Kate, when the door rang once again. _

"_Don't let them in, Olivia!"_

_For whatever reason, Olivia didn't listen to Stiles. She turned back to the door, as if forgetting about Kate's presence behind it, and opened it. This time, it wasn't Kate at the door, but, instead, Scott. Crimson red eyes gleamed at her while the true alpha waited to be let into the house, a dribble of thick blood falling from his lips. _

"_Hi, Liv," Scott greeted her innocently; when he went to wave at her, she saw that his sharp claws had replaced his blunt nails and his palms were covered in more blood. _

_Olivia stared at him wide-eyed, her eyes darting behind him. On the sidewalk leading up to the Stilinski's house, laid Kate Argent. She was dead; her throat had been ripped out, along with most of her intestines. Her blue eyes were wide open and glazed over, staring at Olivia as if she was still alive and begging for the anchoram to help her. _

"_Scott, what did you do?"_

_**Thwack!**_

_Scott didn't get to answer her; an arrow sank into his chest from behind Olivia. Scott roared, his werewolf features blinking into appearance. She felt like she was moving in slow motion as she turned and spotted Allison, her crossbow gripped tightly in her grasp, pointing the tip of a new arrow straight at Scott. _

"_Get away from him, Olivia," Allison commanded, voice controlled and calm. "he's a monster."_

"_Olivia!"_

_Olivia's head whipped toward the living room, where she heard Stiles scream. She wanted to go to him, to run and get him out of there, but she couldn't. It was like her feet were glued into place. _

_Scott's growl caught her attention. He leapt at Allison, but didn't get far. Practiced and precise, Allison let go of her arrow; as soon as the sharp tip impaled itself into Scott's forehead, she was passing out. _

…

_She woke at once when the bed jostled violently and Stiles sat up from his pillow, panting frantically. She rubbed her eyes and blinked for a few seconds, trying to clear the blurriness in her vision, and rolled over to his side of the bed. _

"_Stiles?" she murmured quietly, worriedly, as she reached for him. Even though she couldn't see his face, she could feel the dampness of his sweat on the bare skin of his pale back. "Are you okay?"_

_When he didn't answer right away, still trying to catch his breath, she sat up and curled her arm around his waist. His skin was clammy and his face was pale, the usual redness underneath his mole-speckled cheeks absent. _

"_Sweetcheeks?"_

_Stiles sighed shakily. "Yeah," he grabbed her free hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckles gently. "I was just dreaming."_

_Olivia frowned. "What kind of dream?"_

_Stiles hesitated as he grimaced, the paleness of his skin stark against the pinkness of his lips. "It was weird," he said finally. "It was like a dream within a dream."_

"_A bad dream," she assumed. _

_He let out another shaky breath. "Yeah."_

_Olivia frowned and leaned forward slightly, kissing his shoulder blade. "I'm sorry."_

"_Not your fault," Stiles said quietly as he turned toward her. His eyes narrowed at her suddenly, confused. "Wait a second…Livvy, what are you doing here?"_

_Olivia furrowed her eyes, ready to remind him that this was the bed they shared. It was then that their door creaked open. Stiles was immediately distracted by it, his body stiffening as he nervously glowered at the door. _

_He let go of her hand and then slipped out of her hold, stumbling off the bed. _

"_Stiles, where are you going?" now he was confusing Olivia. _

"_I'm just gonna close the door."_

"_You should leave it. Come back to bed, Stiles."_

"_No, no," Stiles brushed off her concern. "I should close it."_

"_Stiles, don't worry about it."_

_Stiles kept walking toward the door. "What if someone comes in?"_

_Olivia shook her head. "Like who? Sweetcheeks, you need sleep."_

"_No," Stiles denied her vehemently. "What if they get in?"_

"_What if who gets in? Stiles, just leave it. Please, you're scaring me!" he kept walking. "Stiles, no! Stiles, please don't go in there! Stiles, don't, please!"_

_He wasn't listening to her and it was maddening. He couldn't go through that door. He couldn't!_

"_Stiles, don't!" she begged loudly. "Stiles, wake up. Wake up!"_

"STILES!"

Olivia's mouth clamped shut, teeth snapping together roughly, when Sirius yipped nervously, rousing her from her nightmare. She inhaled deeply when the hinges of her door quiet squealed open and Lydia rushed into the room

"Something's wrong," she breathed as Lydia crawled into bed with her. She didn't dare look at her cousin's concerned green eyes, she kept her own peeled to the ceiling. "Something's wrong with Stiles, Scott, and Allison."

Olivia wasn't a psychic, she couldn't see the future. However, some part of her, some _anchor_ part of her, knew that something was going on with three of her packmates. Her nightmare had freaked her out to her core, but it was just telling her something that she already knew. Something that she had known for two weeks. Dying, and subsequently coming back to life, had affected Stiles, Scott, and Allison more than they let on.

Their three tethers—Scott's had changed to a deep red, Stiles' stayed his beautiful caramel-whiskey the same color of his eyes, while Allison's glowed a comforting pink—seemed like they were always pulsing. She didn't specifically know what was going on with Scott, but she did know more about the effects on Stiles and Allison. And with the dream she had, more was coming to light.

Seeing Stiles struggle broke Olivia's heart to the core. He was constantly having nightmare after nightmare, and what's more, was his sleep paralysis. She had never gone through sleep paralysis herself, but she had done some research after that first night that Stiles experienced it. It was supposed to be horrible and terrifying, knowing that you're awake but you can't physically move your body. It left Stiles tired and traumatized, though he tried his best not to show it.

Allison, like Stiles, was having terrible visions—just without the sleep paralysis. She would blink and suddenly she'd be in a different place. And what haunted her the most was her aunt, Kate Argent. Allison had told Olivia and Lydia that Kate would appear out of nowhere, stalking, or taunting Allison until she grabbed her nearest weapon to fight back. It was terrifying for her, and the person who would come face-to-face with whatever weapon Allison kept stashed close to her.

And Scott was afraid of himself, his alpha self. While not nearly as terrifying as Stiles and Allison's issues, it was still a big deal to Scott. Scott had learned control fairly quickly for a bitten werewolf and his transition to alpha had screwed with his head. He constantly thought that he would turn into a monster like Peter and that he had no control over his transition. It scarred him; he wouldn't even try to make his wolf features appear in fear of not being able to turn back.

And though Stiles, Allison, and Scott bore the brunt of the sacrifices, Olivia was affected too. Every time Stiles had a nightmare, she'd have one too, and would wake up hearing his screams. Whenever Allison was pulled into one of her hallucinations, her tether would vibrate and Olivia was forced to stop what she was doing to check on her best friend. And while Scott's visions weren't as violent, they made his tether light up like fireworks on the Fourth of July; and when Olivia offered her help, he infuriatingly refused it.

More and more her concern for her boyfriend, best friend, and alpha began to grow. If the darkness that they earned from the sacrifice was this bad now, how much worse would it be in a few months, years?

She had to do something about it. She couldn't just sit by while her friends went certifiable.

"Like this," Olivia held out her left arm, where the plaid sleeve of her blouse was carefully rolled up, and then her right arm, where the fabric stopped prettily on her wrist. "or like this?"

Lydia pursed her lips together, her index finger on her chin, as she seriously contemplated her cousin's fashion choice. "Hmm…you should roll the sleeves," she said finally, eyeing Olivia's bottom half, which was covered by a khaki-colored skirt, dark tights, and heeled ankle boots. "it'll contrast all the business-casual down here."

Olivia glanced at her skirt and then shrugged, knowing what Lydia meant. Carefully, she rolled up her right sleeve until it matched her left and then turned to Lydia expectantly.

Lydia nodded in approval. "Good."

Olivia turned to her locker, a smile quirking her lips. She reached for her textbook for history—where'd they would be introduced to Mr. Westover's replacement—but stopped before her fingers could grip the hard cover.

Allison's tether was glowing brighter than usual, the neon pink blinking on and off. She turned her head, following her instincts (which were, by now, mostly those pesky whispers in her head), toward the set of double doors down the hallway. She was on the move before they swung open and when they did, she was able to catch Allison.

The taller brunette's breathing was frantic as she looked around with wide, confused eyes. It was obvious that she did not remember driving to school, let alone arriving. Olivia squeezed Allison's hands soothingly and pushed some calming effects toward her tether.

"Hey, Al, it's okay," she said softly; she didn't notice as Lydia came over to them, giving Allison a worried look. "You're all right. I've got you."

"I-I was at the morgue," Allison restlessly gestured to the doors. "And Kate, she…she…"

"You're at school and you're safe," Olivia informed her calmly. "Kate's not here. You're okay."

It took a second for Allison to respond, her brown eyes nervously shifting around the hallway. But, finally, she nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Olivia was firm; none of this was Allison's fault so there was no point in apologizing. "We just need to—oh, shit…"

Olivia's gaze tinted violet as Scott's tether caught her attention. It was blazing frighteningly and she saw him moving quickly, right into Stiles' tether.

"It's happening to Stiles and Scott, too," Olivia told Allison as she came back to herself. She glanced at Lydia and added, "We need to find them. They're out front."

The three of them turned and left the school, using the same doors that Allison had stumbled through. With Olivia's abilities, it didn't take long for them to find Stiles and Scott. It seemed that it was Stiles who brought Scott out of his hallucination, as his hands were still gripping his shoulders, holding him into reality.

"I'm okay," they overheard Scott assure Stiles.

"No, you're not," Stiles said knowingly. "It's happening to you, too. You're seeing things, aren't you?"

Scott blinked at Stiles, who had let him go. "How'd you know?"

Olivia, Lydia, and Allison were close enough to the boys now that Olivia felt safe speaking up.

"Because it's happening to all three of you," Stiles and Scott turned at the sound of her voice. "frequently, might I add."

Scott deflated slightly. "You can feel it?"

"Every time," Olivia confirmed while slipping her arm around Stiles' waist; it was against their PDA rules, but she didn't care as long as it calmed him down. It did; he pressed a grateful kiss to the top of her head. "There's the nightmares and the visions, of course, the periods of lack of self-control."

Lydia smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, well, look who's no longer the crazy one."

"We are not crazy," Allison disagreed firmly while Olivia shook her head at her cousin.

"Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis?" Lydia listed as evidence to the contrary. "Yeah, you guys are fine."

She readily ignored the glare that Stiles was sending her, in order to give Scott and Allison an I-told-you-so look.

Scott sighed, agreeing with her slightly. "We did die and come back to life," he admitted. "That's gotta have some side effects, right?"

The bell rang; they had five minutes to get class or they'd be counted tardy.

"We keep an eye on each other," Stiles spoke up, his tone final. "And Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."

Ignoring Lydia's offended look, Stiles and Olivia walked away. Olivia's grip on his slipped from his waist to his hand as they walked and it was taking all of her self-control not to keep staring at Stiles. She couldn't help it; she was worried about him.

"You know, Livvy, I like when you stare at me, I really do, but only when it's, like, the sexy kind of stare, you know?" Stiles joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "Or when it looks like you're daydreaming about me. Honestly, when those are combined, that's when I'm happiest—"

"You're such a perv," Olivia laughed but then sobered up. "But, okay, I get it. I'm sorry for staring."

They entered the school once more and walked through the hallway, heading to their history class.

"I just don't want you to worry about me," Stiles sighed. "It's just a couple of nightmares."

"It's not just nightmares, and you know it," Olivia disagreed as they entered Mr. Westover's old classroom. "and I'm gonna worry about you, even when you have your happiest days. You know why?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow at her while sitting in his seat. "Because you've turned into a worry-wart?"

Olivia sat in the seat behind him. "No," she rolled her eyes, sending Scott a smile as he sat in the seat next to Stiles, before looking back at her boyfriend. "it's because I love you, sweetcheeks."

Stiles made a show of rolling his eyes and muttering unhappily, but the way he gripped her jaw and pulled her close for a kiss told her that he appreciated her and the way she cared about him. The tip of his tongue brushed against her lower lip, nibbling on it gently, and when she opened her mouth to receive him, he pulled away with a beautiful smile.

"Love you, baby," he gave her a quick but searing kiss on her flushed cheek. "and another point for Stiles."

A huff came from Olivia's lips as she took in his words. They had been playing a game recently, because Stiles loved games—especially games that annoyed the pants off of Olivia. It all came down to his hate of their PDA rules and he was being so pathetic about it (pathetically cute, much to her chagrin) that she agreed to make a game out of it. If Stiles got her to break one of her rules, he got a point. The more points he got, the better the prize—a prize in which they had yet to set.

_Damn him!_

"I hate you," Olivia scowled at him, though she had to fight to keep the expression on her face.

"No, you don't!" Stiles sang with a chuckle.

Rather than stroke his ego, Olivia gave her attention to the front of the class. Their new teacher, Mr. Yukimura, had entered the room and had just finished writing FDR's famous Pearl Harbor quote on the board. She had high hopes for Mr. Yukimura, as she had met his daughter, Kira, in her free period and she seemed quite nice.

The bell rang once more as Mr. Yukimura set his piece of chalk down and clapped the dust off of his hands.

"Good morning, everyone," he greeted the class pleasantly. "My name is Mr. Yukimura and I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira…or you might not, since she's never actually mentioned anyone from school…Or brought home a friend for that matter."

A loud sigh came from a couple seats behind Olivia. The whole class turned to look as Kira, dressed in a black crop-top with her hair in beautiful waves, slammed her head against her desk. Olivia smiled slightly as the new girl looked up and gave everyone a sheepish smile.

She usually didn't like people—her friends obviously excluded—but when she met Kira, she instantly felt a connection with her. Kira was bubbly but shy and awkward and it made Olivia want to take her under her wing and into her group of friends. They had an awkward friend—Stiles—but now they needed a shy one and Kira fit that bill.

Olivia waved at her and smiled in satisfaction when Kira returned her action shyly.

"Now, let's begin with American History at the turn of the twentieth century…"

"Maybe we need a little more time to get back to normal."

Stiles quietly scoffed at Scott's words. Leave it to Scott McCall to be optimistic even when they were going crazy. He grabbed his combo lock and started fiddling with the knob, reciting his memorized combination as he twisted and turned it to the right marks.

"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures," he frowned and narrowed his eyes when his lock did not open. He tried his combination again, though the numbers on the lock were far from normal. "There's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal."

He tugged on his lock, frustrated. Long gone were the usual numbers; in their places were symbols. Symbols that he had never seen before. His skin prickled with irritation and fear as he stared them down, trying to make sense of them.

"Yeah," Scott sighed in agreement, missing out on Stiles' frustration.

With a grunt, Stiles let go of the lock and turned to Scott, ready to rant about his sudden inability to read. However, he stopped point blank when he saw that Scott's eyes were his alpha-red, not his normal chestnut-brown.

"Oh, dude, your eyes."

Scott gave him an alarmed look. "What about them?"

"They're glowing," Stiles said hurriedly and Scott ducked his head. "Like, right now. Stop, Scott. Stop it."

Scott's breathing picked up as a wheeze as he raised his hand over his red eyes. "I can't," he panted, panicked. "I can't control it."

Stiles grimaced, wondering where Olivia was, and grabbed Scott. "All right, just keep your head down," he advised, looking around at the classrooms on either side of the hall, trying to remember which one was empty during third period. "Okay, come on. Keep your head down."

He led Scott into freshman history classroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Scott ripped away from him, grunting loudly as he tried to gain control, and tore out of his jacket.

"Get away from me," he growled at Stiles when he tried to help him. "Stay back."

"Scott, it's okay."

"I don't know what's going to happen," Scott insisted thickly, through his fangs.

Though Stiles wanted to ignore his friend's warning and just grab him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, he didn't. He stayed back, not only for his safety, but to respect Scott's wishes. After all, what if Scott couldn't control himself and ripped Stiles into pieces? That'd be a disaster, for both of them.

The door swung open and Olivia rushed into the room only a second after Scott started digging his claws into the flesh of his palms. Stiles stayed back and let her do her thing, watching as she kneeled in front of his best friend and grabbed his forearms.

"Scott, Scott, listen to me," her eyes were glowing purple under her ministrations. "You're going to get control now, all right?"

"Pain—"

"Pain makes you human, I know," Olivia agreed with Scott, nodding empathetically. "All right, so focus on that pain. Let it ground you. That pain is an anchor."

Stiles knew that this was serious, he really did. But between his fear and anger at the situation he, Scott, and Allison were in, his heart couldn't help but melt. Olivia had really come into her own as an Anchor. She was empathetic and gentle and though he loved her as she was previously—self-deemed the Ice Queen—he only grew more and more in love with her with each passing day.

_God, I'm so fucking lucky to have her. _

Olivia and Scott were sitting on the floor now, blood covering the alpha's arms and the Anchor's hands. Scott was back to his human self, back in control, but Olivia continued to give her support, holding onto Scott until she felt he no longer needed her. Stiles plopped down next to them and handed them the tissues he snagged from the teacher's desk.

"This isn't just in our heads," he admitted as Olivia let go of Scott and started wiping her hands of his blood. "This is real and it's starting to get bad for me, too. I'm not just having nightmares. I'm having dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake…And sometimes, I'm not even sure if I'm ever actually waking up."

Olivia swallowed thickly, giving her boyfriend a concerned look. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" Stiles looked between Olivia and Scott, watching as the latter shook his head. "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the past few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't put the letters in order."

Stiles focused on Scott, so he didn't have to see the heartbroken look on Olivia's face.

"Like even now?"

Stiles looked around the room, focusing on the posters taped to the brick walls. They were history posters, obviously, but he couldn't make out the words. All the letters on each and every one were mixed around, like he was suddenly dyslexic. The only thing he could make out was a picture of Lincoln's memorial—but there weren't words on that one. _He couldn't read_.

"I can't read a thing."

Things had not approved overnight. Allison in particular was having difficulties, so Olivia stuck to her side like glue. After she left art class, where Allison was having trouble holding her brush still, to help with Scott's control, things had not gotten better for the hunter. According to Lydia, Allison spaced out after getting red paint on her canvas and was close to a panic attack.

Lydia, being the strategist she was, suggested that Allison practice with her bow after school. The three of them went out to the woods behind Olivia and Lydia's house and set up a target for Allison to shoot. However, Allison's shaky grip on the paintbrush was much like her grip on her bow. She couldn't stay still, no matter which way she held the string and launched the arrow.

In the end, their little experiment had been a disaster. Allison ended up having a hallucination of Kate—one that Olivia could not bring her out of, no matter how hard she tried—and tried to shoot Lydia. She would have killed the redhead if it wasn't for Isaac's newfound crush on the hunter. If he hadn't been following them and hadn't caught the arrow heading right for Lydia's head, she would be dead.

It had been a restless night of sleep for Olivia, courtesy of the nightmares keeping Stiles awake, and things only got worse when she went back to school the next day. After sleeping through the first two periods in the nurse's office—Olivia was her favorite student and she was often able to escape there during class if she already knew the lesson for that day—it had been Coach's class.

Having gotten a nap in, Olivia felt fine. She was taking notes along with Coach's lecture and had answered a question or two when she was called on, when she felt it. Stiles tether almost ached as it lit up the map of her pack. In the desk in front of her, Stiles was still awake and writing furiously in his notebook but he wasn't reacting to anything she sent to his tether to calm him down. It was like he was asleep, but he wasn't—his eyes were wide open and he kept writing the same phrase over and over again in his notes.

_**Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. **_

Coach, who had been trying to get his attention, had enough of his ignorance. He blew sharply into the whistle, causing Stiles to jump high in his seat, completely shocked.

"Stilinski!" Stiles glared at Coach, wide-eyed. "I asked you a question."

"Uh, sorry, Coach," Stiles apologized, centering himself. "What was it?

"It was, 'Stilinski, are you paying attention back there?'"

Stiles grimaced. "Oh…Well, I am now."

Coach pressed his lips together unhappily. "Stilinski, stop reminding me why I drink every night," he turned away from Stiles. "Does anybody else want to try the question on the board?"

Stiles sighed in relief now that Coach had turned his attention to someone else, and turned to Scott and Olivia. She knew that her face must have shown how worried she was, because Stiles was quick to assure them that he was okay.

"I'm okay, I just fell asleep for a second."

Olivia glanced at Scott and then at Stiles' notebook, looking over his handwriting. He was writing to himself, telling himself to wake up, and he hadn't. Not until Coach used his whistle to get his attention. So, physically, he wasn't asleep, but he thought he was?

_What the hell is going on with him?_ Olivia worried to herself.

"Dude," Scott nodded at Stiles' notebook. "You weren't asleep."

Stiles glanced at his notebook, his eyes growing wide with confusion. At once, he grabbed it and slammed it upside down so he didn't have his own handwriting haunting him.

Soon, class ended with the ring of the lunch bell. Olivia, Stiles, Scott, and Lydia—who also had economics class with them, but sat on the other side of the classroom with Danny—went to the courtyard to eat. Allison and Isaac met up with them and though they all had brought food, eating was the last thing on their minds.

They compared stories about what was going on with Stiles, Scott, and Allison. The more they heard, the more they knew that they had to do something. They just didn't know what.

"Okay, so what happens to a person who has a near-death experience and comes out of it seeing things?" Scott asked, bringing them back to the start of the conversation.

"And is unable to tell what's real or not," Stiles added grumpily.

Allison nodded, "And is being haunted by demonic visions of dead relatives?"

"They're all locked up because they're insane," Isaac answered, idly throwing a potato chip into his mouth.

"Ha," Stiles laughed sarcastically and sneered at him. "Can you at least try to be helpful, please?"

"For half my childhood, I was locked in a freezer," Isaac reminded him. "So, being helpful is kind of a new thing for me."

"Hey, dude, are you still milking that?"

"Yeah, maybe I am still milking that."

"Guys, I mean this in the nicest way, but shut up," Olivia interrupted them, grabbing Stiles' hand that rested on her thigh and squeezing to the point he winced. "Turning on each other is not gonna help us."

"Hi!" a new voice chirped and Olivia looked up to see Kira standing at the end of their table. "Hi, sorry. I couldn't help but overhearing what you guys were talking about and I think I actually might now what you're talking about."

They all stared at her expectantly.

"There's a Tibetan word for it," she explained as she took the empty seat next to Scott and across from Lydia. "It's called Bardo. It literally means in-between state."

Lydia narrowed her eyes at the newcomer. "And what do they call you?"

Scott gave Lydia a reproachful look as Olivia spoke up, "Her name's Kira. I told you about her, remember, Lyds?"

"Right," Lydia nodded, giving Kira a once-over. Olivia didn't know if her cousin felt threatened by the fact that Kira knew something she didn't, or because Kira was sitting close to Scott. "the new girl."

"Yeah. So, Kira," Olivia caught their new friend's attention. "are you talking Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism or Indian?"

Kira shrugged. "Either I guess. But all the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo," she nodded confidently. "There are different progressive states where you can hallucinate. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful or wrathful deities."

"Wrathful deities?" Isaac repeated skeptically. "And what are those?"

"Like demons," Kira grinned. Olivia knew that if Kira knew they weren't just talking hypotheticals, there wouldn't be a smile on her face.

"Demons," Stiles scoffed, frowning at Olivia, who smiled sympathetically. "Why not?"

"Hold on," Allison spoke up. "if there are different progressive states, then what's the last one?"

"Death," Kira answered casually. "You die."

Olivia, Stiles, and the rest of the pack shared at look, one thought on each of their minds.

_Shit_.

_The crackle of electricity was unmistakable, especially when they were being held in such a small room. Olivia found herself chained to a fence, her toes unable to reach the rough wooden floors, and between two familiar men. Derek was on her left with a stubborn expression on his face and Peter was on her right, scowling in pain. Both of them were shirtless, but Olivia was still fully clothed in the pajamas she changed into at Allison's apartment while they studied. _

_Derek glared past her, his pale-green eyes spewing hate at Peter. _

_Peter noticed. "Why are you looking at me like this is my fault?"_

"_Because it is your fault."_

_Derek's statement was followed by a sharp shock rocking through their bodies. Olivia gasped in pain and clenched at the metal fence, her fingers practically molding the material around them. _

"_It's all your fault," she added when the electricity cleared. _

"_Yeah," Peter sighed. "you're probably right."_

_There was another crackle and Olivia's body shook from current that ran through her. She knew that she should have been dead by now, that she should have died from electric shock and from the sheer pain that came with it, but she wasn't. For whatever reason, she was still alive and held captive with her father and cousin. _

"_You see this equipment?" the man who had been controlling the electric current spoke up from where he sat by an old, rusty transmitter. "Very old. The settings are not quite accurate anymore. So, it's hard to tell just how far to turn the dial."_

_Olivia's teeth rattled together in her mouth as Peter grunted, "I think it's a little high."_

_The man didn't like the way Peter spoke to him. He grabbed the knob that controlled the strength of the current and turned it higher. A scream forced its way out of Olivia at the fresh wave of electricity and Peter growled, but Derek merely grunted. _

"_I've seen some crack their teeth, others? They just shake and shake even after their heart stops," the man laughed as he looked back on Olivia, Peter, and Derek. "Sometimes we don't even know they're dead," he cut the electricity and laughed again. "but nobody wants to play a guessing game. So, why don't you just tell us. Where is la loba?"_

_The man walked away from his station and took root in front of Olivia, Peter, and Derek. _

"_We don't know where la loba is," Derek answered strictly, trying to catch his breath. _

"_No?" the man didn't look convinced. "Maybe you need a different method of persuasion? Maybe, we cut one of you in half, the other talks?"_

_Olivia grimaced, just at the thought of a hemicorporectomy. Those reminded her of Gerard Argent and she couldn't stand that old asshole. _

"_I would love to be the volunteer, but we really don't know what you're talking about," Peter spoke up. And then, just because he was Peter, he barbed, "And honestly, isn't bisecting people with a broad sword a little medieval?"_

_The man chuckled. "Broad sword? We're not savages," he nodded at one of his men and the man picked up a chainsaw, revving the engine. "We all wonder how far your little healing trick goes."_

_Olivia saw the man with the chainsaw position the rapidly-moving blade at Derek's arm before she clenched her eyes tightly shut. _

"_What do you think?" the main man asked. "Can you grow back an arm? We're pretty sure you can't grow back your head."_

"_Boys," a sharp, feminine voice cut through the buzz of the chainsaw. _

_The electric tool's power was cut immediately and when Olivia opened her eyes, she saw a tiny woman enter the room. She, like the men they were with, was Latino in heritage and spoke with a heavy accent when using the English language. _

_The woman spoke to her men in her native language as she walked further into the room. Both men rescinded away from Olivia, Derek, and Peter and stopped to watch the woman do her work. _

_She stopped in front of the three Hales, giving them a once-over. _

"_No hablo Espanol," Derek said curtly, lying through his teeth. While Olivia only had two years on Spanish on her belt and wasn't quick to the take when people spoke it around her, Derek was. It was one of his best subjects in school. _

_The woman clicked her tongue. "You speak many languages, Derek Hale," the woman spoke in her native language, though this happened to be a statement Olivia could translate. "You know exactly what I'm saying and you know who we want."_

_The woman pulled something out of the pocket of her cute old-lady sweater. Olivia could see that it was a blade of some sort, maybe curved to cutting something specific. The woman took slow steps toward them, holding the blade out threateningly. _

"_Where is the she-wolf?"_

_Was she talking about Cora? That was the only female werewolf that they knew now. But what did these people, these hunters, want with Cora? She hadn't done anything wrong. _

_Even if they were asking about Cora, Derek wasn't going to give his sister away. _

"_We don't know any she-wolf."_

_The woman pressed her lips together and nodded. "I know you won't talk, lobito," she turned, completely bypassing Olivia, and stood in front of Peter. "This one will talk. This one loves the sound of his own voice."_

"_You should hear me sing," Peter said sarcastically. _

_The man, the main one who was in change of the electrical current, smirked viciously. "We want to hear you scream."_

_Peter shook his head and glanced at Derek. "No one ever wants to hear me sing."_

_Olivia rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Peter."_

_Peter faced the woman again as she spoke, "What could we do to persuade you, hmm?" she lifted the blade against Peter's temple and drew it down his face; Peter winced as his fingernails sharpened into claws and blood dripped from his chin. "Where is the she-wolf?_

_This time, Peter kept his mouth shut. _

_The woman didn't like that. Quickly, she whipped the blade away from his face and brought it down on his hand. Peter's ring finger on his left hand was chopped off swiftly, blood bursting out all over his chest as he screamed. _

"_Oh, my God," Olivia breathed, her stomach turning. _

"_Think about it," the woman called, from where she had turned around. She studied the severed finger in her hand. "I'm only going to ask you nine more times."_

_And with that, she dropped the finger, and walked out of the room. _

Olivia inhaled deeply as she sat up, her palm sloped against her racing heart. The dream—no, the nightmare—she had been having felt so real. Much more so than the dream she had of Stiles, Scott, and Allison the other night. No, what had happened in her dream had really happened, though it was obvious that she wasn't there. Derek and Peter were in trouble, trapped by hunters in Mexico, and she had to do something about it.

A sharp gasp came from next to her. Olivia watched as Allison jumped awake from her restless sleep. Placing a calming hand on her friend's shoulder, she tried not to panic as Allison pulled a ring dagger out from under her pillow.

Yeah, none of this was okay. 


	38. Yes, Werecoyotes Exist

**[3x14; More Bad Than Good]**

When Scott had waltzed into Stiles' bedroom and said, "We're going to find a dead body," Stiles had expected the night to go much like that one night, not so long ago, went. Thankfully, his best friend was the alpha in this situation and Scott definitely wasn't going to bite him. Also, this time, the dead body was not one of Olivia's relatives—which he considered a blessing. She'd be so pissed if she knew he was looking for one of her dead relatives.

Actually, she'd probably be pissed that he was going to look for a dead body at all. He could picture it; she'd have a lecture all set and ready for him, but he'd get distracted by her beauty and then distract her. And then, well, what happened next would be private—for no one but him and Olivia.

The sharp snap of a stick under Scott's shoe brought him out of his fantasy of a night spent between Olivia's thighs. Yeah, he should probably pay attention to where they were going.

"You know, if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet," Stiles brought up the elephant in the room—er, area. The only reason they were coming out to look for a dead body was because Noah thought that the accident that killed most of the Tate family had been caused by a werewolf.

The theory had some substance; after all, the accident took place on the night of a full moon.

"I know," Scott was paying more attention to the GPS on his phone, but Stiles didn't mind. They had to get to the site of the wreck somehow and neither of them knew the woods that well.

"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a fucking three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."

"Yeah, me either," Scott sighed in agreement. "Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore."

Eventually, they came across a ravine, close to where the accident should have been. They would have to climb down a few feet of stone and dirt, but it was doable for the both of them. It wasn't like it was Mount Everest or some shit.

A howl echoed through the air, making Stiles flinch. He flinched so violently that he accidently bumped into Scott, causing the phone—and GPS—to go flying out of his friend's hands, into the ravine below. It was just their luck that it had recently rained, and the phone had sunk down into a puddle.

"Fuck, sorry, dude," Stiles grimaced, looking from the phone and the puddle to Scott's annoyed face. "I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless animal."

Amused, Scott scoffed and jumped down into the ravine. While he grabbed the phone from the puddle, Stiles got to work on following him down. He slipped and slid a little on the way, but he managed to get into the ravine no problem. Yeah, it was nothing like Mount Everest.

"It still works," Scott informed him, showing Stiles his phone, which was apparently waterproof.

Stiles only glanced at the phone, as the beam of Scott's flashlight had caught something that intrigued him. He grabbed the flashlight from Scott's hand and crept forward, following the light to where an old car lay, upside down and ultimately destroyed.

"I think we found it."

Scott walked over to him, looking at the wrecked car in confusion. "Uh, why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?"

"Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out," Stiles studied the vehicle. Its windows were long gone, probably from the crash, the tires had been scavenged, and thankfully, there was no blood from the accident. There was, however, claw marks scratched down the car, imprinting the metal. "Look at this. See those?"

Scott nodded and shifted closer to the car. He put his own hand on the marks, surprised that they were a match in width and height.

"Animal claws would be closer together, right?" Stiles prompted. "A lot closer."

"It was a werewolf," Scott agreed.

"So my dad was right."

A hint of pride bubbled in Stiles' gut at the thought of his dad taking all of this supernatural shit in stride. He just wished that the reason wasn't because Agent McCall was out to get him impeached from his job. Still, at least his dad would know that this case was closed, even if it meant that a werewolf had decimated a family.

Stiles dropped to his stomach and flashed the light through one of the windows so he could see into the vehicle. He just wanted to make sure that there was nothing wrong going on down there. It wasn't until Scott kneeled down next to him and pointed something out did he see something.

He pulled the doll out of the vehicle and got to his feet, Scott following. They stared at the doll, a basic one that most little girls would have to play with, when out of nowhere, it spoke.

"I'm hungry!"

Stiles shouted and threw the doll away from him, so scared that he lost his balance. Scott stared at him in shock, but Stiles felt vindicated. There was no way he wouldn't have screamed from that fucking doll speaking out of nowhere. It was out of a fucking horror movie.

He inhaled deeply and pressed a palm against his chest. "I think I just had a minor heart attack."

Scott sighed heavily in agreement before pausing. Stiles saw the dangerous look on his face and stood still, his heart starting to race when he heard the low growl come from the other side of the car.

"Stiles," Scott reached for Stiles; he shakily joined his friend. "Please tell me you see that."

Stiles stared in the direction where Scott was, spotting the coyote within seconds.

_Shit, shit, shit,_ he cursed himself. _Oh, we are so fucked._

He didn't voice his fear, though his voice did shake when he answered Scott, "I see it."

And then Scott was off, chasing after the coyote.

"Wait, hey, Scott!" he yelled after his best friend. "Scott, wait!"

What was the fucking point of running after a fucking coyote?! If anything, Scott needed to stay by Stiles' side as they left, so he could protect them. Without Scott around, who knew if another coyote would come around and eat him. And also, Scott could get hurt as well. If he couldn't control his transformation, how was he supposed to go up against a fucking coyote.

_God, I hate coyotes so fucking much. _

He couldn't just stand there and wait for Scott to come back—if he came back at all. He supposed he should at least take a look around the area to see if he could find any hint that Malia Tate had been killed around here. The sight of a coyote by the wreck almost confirmed her death. Though her body wasn't found with her mother and sister's bodies, she couldn't have survived for long out in the woods by herself, with coyotes around. It was sad, but it was the truth.

He walked slowly and with purpose as he aimed the flashlight in front of him. He slowly made his way to the opposite side of the ravine, secretly hoping that Scott would come back soon so they could get the hell out of there, and tried to find anything that stood out. He was about to leave and head back to the site of the wreck when the flashlight caught a shadow of an opening in the stones in the ravine wall.

He raised an eyebrow in realization; a coyote den.

He didn't want to explore the den without Scott, so he made his way back to the wreck. He was halfway back when he crossed a tree and ran smack dab into Scott. There may have been some frightened screaming on both sides, but they would never mention it to anyone.

"I think I found something," Stiles blurted out once he was sure he wasn't going to die of a heart attack.

Scott nodded. "So did I. I think that coyote I followed is Malia."

"Malia Tate? Come this way," Stiles led Scott toward the den. "The girl who wasn't found."

"Exactly," Scott nodded. "She's like me—well, not like me, because I don't change into a wolf."

"Maybe it's like Derek's mom," Stiles suggested, his mind racing a mile a minute as they walked. "She could turn into a four-legged wolf. Maybe werecoyotes can too."

"I can't believe werecoyotes are a thing now."

"Me neither."

Together, they climbed up the ravine wall and entered the den. While Stiles hadn't known that the coyote was Malia, it didn't surprise him to see an old jacket that would fit a nine-year-old girl, as well as a couple of shoes, a scarf, and a patterned blanket. They were all dirty from age and time in the den, but still recognizable.

"You see this?" Stiles picked up the blue jacket. "This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo."

Scott nodded, recognizing the garment, before hesitating. "We shouldn't be here."

Stiles gave him a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She's not going to come back now," Scott explained. "We just invaded her home. Our scents are gonna be everywhere."

"Shit," Stiles sighed in realization, his eyes landing on an old teddy bear. "Well, if she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?"

"I don't know."

"Can you track her now?" Stiles asked Scott, his eyes still wandering around the den. "You think you got her scent?"

"Maybe, but I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf," Scott sighed. "And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Stiles remembered what Deaton had told them earlier that day; when the three of them underwent the sacrifice, they had opened a door to their minds. That was why he, Scott, and Allison were having such a hard time with things.

"The door's still open," he stated; Scott nodded. "Well, what if Olivia helps you?"

Scott nodded. "And if that doesn't work, I'll ask Derek if he can help," he sighed heavily and looked around the den. "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of Deaton's league."

"And more my dad's," Stiles finished his thought.

Yeah, he already dreaded trying to get his dad to understand what had happened to Malia Tate.

"_How much are we talking here? I'm not doing it for any less than ten."_

"Ten thousand?" Olivia hissed into her phone, eyes narrowed.

"_And if you want the older one alive, I'm thinking fifteen."_

"You want fifteen thousand dollars to rescue Derek and Peter?" Olivia lowered her voice when the girl who had the locker a few feet down from her gave her a weary look. "Did Morrell give you this much to get to Isaac?"

"_I don't talk about previous contracts,"_ Braeden, the girl who had rescued Isaac from the alpha pack at the beginning of the school year, snapped through the receiver. "_And we're talking about the Calaveras here. I'm not going in for under fifteen."_

Well, when she put it like that…

"All right, fine," Olivia sighed, digging into her purse for the checkbook she kept on her. Luckily, Peter had decided to start giving her child support and had given her access to his bank account. She rattled off his account information while glancing at the clock on the wall; she had two minutes to get to class. "If it doesn't go through right away, it'll need Peter's approval."

"_That's hardly getting paid upfront_," Braeden argued.

"Well, I don't have fifteen thousand dollars in my bank account," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Peter's good for the money, he just might have to authorize the payment. Are we gonna do this or not?"

It was silent for a few seconds on Braeden's end. "_Fine_," she finally decided. _"I'll head there now. I'll make contact when I pick up the packages."_

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you talking like a UPS worker?"

Braeden sighed. "_Goodbye, Olivia."_

"Bye."

Olivia slammed her locker shut and rushed toward her history class, cursing Braeden for getting back to her right as the warning bell rang. She slid into the classroom with a minute to spare and headed right into the back corner of the room where Stiles, Scott, and Allison were huddled around Stiles' iPad.

"Here's where we found the den," Stiles pointed out to Allison as Olivia walked over to them. "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."

"Well, that could narrow it down," Allison said thoughtfully. "Coyotes travel in fixed trails. But, I think you're right about her not going back to the den. Coyotes don't like wolves."

"And they're really smart," Olivia piped in; she didn't know what they were talking about, but she never brushed off a time to show off her brilliance. "If they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."

Stiles gave her a surprised look. "Coyotes tiptoe?"

Olivia shared an amused look with Allison. "Yeah, they tiptoe."

"Wow."

The bell rang, announcing the start of class.

"I got to go," Allison said hurriedly. "but send me the pinned location."

Stiles nodded and she ran off, hurrying to her class. Once Scott had started to head to his seat, Olivia confronted Stiles, still a little confused about what he and their friends had been talking about.

"So, what was that about?"

"Okay, so, you know how I told you that Scott's dad is trying to get my dad fired?"

"No."

He hadn't said anything about that, in actuality. Agent McCall was trying to fire the Sheriff? How was that even possible? She was pretty sure the FBI didn't have jurisdiction over local police forces—or they did, and she just didn't know about it.

"Right, sorry, I forgot," Stiles winced. "Anyway, McCall is trying to get my dad impeached, so Dad's been going through old cases. Since he _knows_ now, he figured a set of fresh eyes might do some good. He found a case, this family had died in a car accident on the full moon and he thinks a werewolf did it."

It was a lot to take in at once, especially since Stiles was speaking a million miles per hour, but somehow, she managed. "So did a werewolf do it?"

"Not exactly," Stiles whispered as they took their seats. "it turns out that their oldest daughter, Malia, is a werecoyote."

Olivia blinked slowly. "A werecoyote."

"Yes, and she accidently caused the accident," Stiles finished up his story. "So, Scott and I went out to the wreck last night and Scott found Malia."

"…but as a coyote?"

"Yes, exactly," Stiles nodded excitedly. "So, now we're trying to find a way to get Malia to turn back into a girl."

"Oh, my God," she sighed. "You found this all out in one night?"

"Yeah," Stiles smiled casually. "What'd you do last night?"

"I had a dream about Derek and Peter, so I hired a mercenary to find them."

Stiles blinked at her, bewildered. "Excuse me? What?"

Before Olivia could elaborate, Mr. Yukimura was calling the class to attention. "All right, everyone. Let's get started."

Stiles turned and sat properly in his desk while Olivia straightened up her notebooks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott at his desk, going through a huge bundle of paper. "Scott, what is that?"

Scott glanced back at her. "Kira printed this off for us. It's about that Bardo stuff."

"Huh," she hummed, impressed. She turned toward Kira's desk and smiled at her, earning her a shy grin back, before looking back at Scott. "That was nice of her."

"Yeah, it was."

"…We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war," Mr. Yukimura continued. "There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us?" there was no volunteer, so Mr. Yukimura picked a random student. "Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"

Olivia's eyes cut to her boyfriend, watching him wearily. He couldn't read at the moment.

"Oh, uh, maybe someone else could," Stiles excused himself.

Mr. Yukimura wasn't having that. "Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

"Okay," Stiles sighed and got out of his seat, heading over to the podium where Mr. Yukimura's copy of their textbook rested.

Seeing someone you love struggle is never fun. Physically feeling someone you love struggle was even worse. Stiles' tether pulsed in sync with his quickening breaths as he stood at the podium, glaring down at the textbook. Though she was trying her hardest to help through her tethers, she just wasn't reaching him.

Olivia knew the signs of a panic attack, especially on Stiles and he was there; his rapid breathing, his glazed-over eyes, his tight-knuckled grip…She needed to get him out of there.

"Stiles," she popped out of her seat and rushed over to him, gently grabbing his arm. "It's okay. J-Just, just hold on."

Scott, who had followed her to the front of the classroom, glanced at Mr. Yukimura. "We should take him to the nurse's office."

Honestly, they didn't wait for Mr. Yukimura to agree. They had already started helping Stiles walk out of the classroom. It was only when they were freely in the hall that Stiles moved on his own accord, ripping away from Olivia and Scott's grips on him. He stumbled, breathing heavily, into the closest room, which happened to be the boys' bathroom.

"Stiles, look at me, man," Scott was almost as panicked as Stiles; he hadn't seen his best friend like this before. "What's happening?"

"It's a panic attack," Olivia told him as she hurried to Stiles' side. Her attempts to grab his arms and help him sit down were pushed away as Stiles gripped onto the sink.

"It's a dream," he mumbled frantically, tears slipping down his cheeks. "it's a dream. This is just a dream."

"Stiles, this isn't a dream," Olivia's voice was soothing, gentle. "This is real. You're here with me and Scott."

"It's okay, Stiles," Scott's eyes fluttered, afraid for his best friend. "What do you do? I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

"Fingers," Stiles gasped out. "Y-You c-count your f-fingers. Y-You have e-extra fingers in d-dreams."

"How many fingers do I have?" Olivia immediately held out both hands so Stiles could see them. "Stiles, hey! Look at me, look at my hands and count my fingers. Come on, sweetcheeks."

Scott grabbed Stiles' arm and forcefully turned him away from the sink in order to face Olivia. Stiles inhaled and exhaled far too quickly to be safe, but he set his blurry eyes on Olivia's hands, counting her fingers one-by-one.

"One, two…"

Scott nodded in encouragement. "Keep going."

"Three, four…"

"Five," Olivia put the first of her thumbs down and gave Stiles a heartfelt smile. "Good job, babe. Keep going."

Stiles exhaled shakily. "Six, seven…"

"Eight," Scott supplied as Olivia put her last middle finger down.

"Nine…" Stiles inhaled and finished counting breathlessly, "Ten."

"Ten fingers, Stiles," Olivia encouraged. "I have ten fingers. This is real. You're not dreaming."

The weight of what that meant seemed to fall on Stiles all at once. He collapsed, his back hitting the wall, as he slid to the floor. Ignoring how dirty the floors in the boys' bathroom were, Olivia didn't hesitate to get on her knees and kneel next to him, grabbing his clammy hand to press a loving kiss to the back of it.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" Stiles cried out in frustration, knocking his head back against the wall. It broke Olivia's heart to see him like this, so frustrated and helpless.

"We'll figure it out," Scott joined Olivia and Stiles on the floor. "You're going to be okay."

Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "Am I?" he raised his head to look Scott in the eye. "Are _you_? Scott, you can't transform. Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt. I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this. We can't—we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."

"Stiles, don't say that," Olivia shook her head, squeezing his hand. He lazily looked at her went to disagree, but she cut him off. "No, seriously, don't. _Can't_ is not in your vocabulary, Stiles. If anyone can do anything about anything, it's you, sweetcheeks. You are the one who figures things out. You are strong—you always have been, and you always will be."

"Babe…"

"And even when things are tough, we don't give up," Olivia insisted, her eyes starting to sting. "We _try_. We always try."

"Liv's right," Scott agreed, nodding proudly. "It's not in our nature to sit by and do nothing. We're doers, Stiles."

Stiles sniffed and nodded resolutely. "You're right," he agreed, straightening up as he looked between his girlfriend and his best friend. "We can do this."

The rest of school did not get any better. By the time Stiles was feeling better, class had already been let out and people were headed to their second period. However, there was one person who wasn't headed to their next class and that had been Kira. The nice girl she was, she had picked up the bags that Olivia, Scott, and Stiles had left in the history classroom and went to return them.

Unfortunately, Malia—yes, the Malia who was also somehow a werecoyote—had attacked her in the boys' locker room. No one had any idea how a coyote was able to get into the building, but apparently doors didn't deter her when Stiles had something of hers in his backpack.

Scott had saved Kira, thankfully, and the animal control and the police had shown up for the aftermath. The situation went from bad to worse, when Stiles admitted that he had brought the baby doll from the Tate's wreck with him to school at the same time that Mr. Tate walked onto the scene.

He went off the handle at Stiles and then was caught with a gun by Sheriff Stilinski. Fortunately, Mr. Tate left before things could get even more heated, while promising to find the coyote and kill it. He did all of that without realizing that said coyote was actually his daughter—not that anyone would just know that.

So now, the pack had to group together and save Malia from her own father. It was the how they were going to save Malia that was the problem. With Scott and Allison out of commission, they didn't have much options in the way of muscle.

Which led them to Dr. Deaton's animal clinic.

"Xylazine," Deaton set three vials of medicine on the stainless-steel counter in the middle of his exam room. "It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three, so whoever's shooting needs to be a damn good shot."

"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott was quick to say.

_No_, Olivia disagreed privately, _she __**was**__ a good shot._

Isaac voiced what she didn't. "She used to be."

"She can do it," Scott insisted.

Olivia shared a skeptical look with Isaac; Scott hadn't been there when Allison accidently almost shot and killed Lydia. They had. Ever since the sacrifice, Allison wasn't the marksman she used to be. She was so shaky nowadays that she could hardly use her regular handwriting.

"_If_ we manage to find the thing," Isaac muttered pessimistically.

Stiles was not happy with Isaac's negativity. "Okay, what is the point of him?" he pointed at the blonde werewolf. "Seriously, I mean, what's his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf? What's up with the scarf anyway? It's sixty-five degrees out."

Olivia sighed, tired of the back-and-forth between Isaac and Stiles. "Stiles, cut it out."

Stiles shot her a betrayed look as Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, irritated.

"Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask," he pointed out blankly. "How do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

"I could do it, if I could keep myself in control," Scott said thoughtfully. "But…Liv, you could do it?"

Olivia pointed to her chest, confused. "Me? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, how is she supposed to do that?" Stiles echoed curiously.

"Well, you remember what Deucalion told you, right? About your abilities?" Scott prompted. Olivia's mind raced as she thought back to the night of the lunar eclipse. "He said you could turn a werewolf back with…"

"With a call of his name," she finished. "Yeah, I remember now."

"Is that true?" Isaac asked Deaton.

"Yes, it is," Dr. Deaton confirmed, studying Olivia with peculiar eyes. "You've already done something like that, haven't you?"

Olivia nodded. "With Ethan and Aiden."

"And Deucalion," Scott added.

"So, if you can make three alpha werewolves transform back to their human selves, you can do it with a werecoyote," Stiles encouraged Olivia, a proud smile playing at his lips. "It'll be a piece of cake for you, babe."

"We don't know that," Olivia disagreed. "I have no connection to Malia, I've never met her. Scott, you ran into her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I can't transform."

"So, we make a second plan, just in case Livvy can't get Malia to change back," Stiles clapped his hands as he started scheming. "We need a real alpha, though. You know, one that can get it up."

Scott sighed, embarrassed. "I'm an alpha with performance issues."

"It's okay, Scott," Olivia patted his hand. "You just need to practice. Unfortunately, Derek and Peter are somewhere in Mexico right now."

"Which leaves the twins," Isaac hummed.

"They're not alphas anymore," Dr. Deaton informed them. "After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."

Olivia didn't see how that was even possible, but okay…

"Yeah, but they still know what it's like to be alphas," Stiles pointed out. "Nobody's seen them in weeks, though."

Olivia winced; she had walked in on Lydia and Aiden one too many times in the past two weeks to say that no one had seen the twins. She knew what Aiden's ass looked like, much to her chagrin. Lydia was taking this I-don't-like-Scott thing to a whole new level by sexing it up with one half of the ex-alpha twins.

"That's not totally true," she spoke up reluctantly; Lydia was going to kill her. "Lydia may or may not be in contact with them…specially Aiden."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at her. "Still?" she nodded. "Ew…"

They were set. A plan had been made, with hopes that they wouldn't have to use their back-up plan. Scott could control his transformation again, but they were still counting on Olivia to turn Malia back into her human self. It was the easiest route to go since they knew that Olivia could change were-creatures back into their human selves.

All they had to do now was implement the plan. The six of them would be splitting up; Allison and Lydia would try to shoot Malia with the tranquilizer in hopes that it would slow her down, Isaac and Scott would chase Malia and get her to the site of the car wreck, and that's where Olivia and Stiles would be waiting so Olivia could change Malia back. It was a fairly simple plan, but anything could go wrong.

They arrived at the preserve in three separate vehicles; Stiles' Jeep, Scott's bike, and Allison's Toyota. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Scott, Isaac, and Allison gathered in a circle, ready to go over their plan once more.

"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked reluctantly.

Olivia twisted her lips together and glanced at Stiles, gripping his hand tightly. He didn't say anything to her, but his actions did their job in assuring her that everything was going to be all right. He squeezed her back and lifted their intertwined hands, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in assurance. She snuggled into his, the warmth of his shoulder defrosting her chilled cheek.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott rationalized for all of them.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter," Isaac corrected him bluntly.

Despite the situation, Olivia couldn't help but chuckle. She could always count on Isaac to tell it like it is. It was one of his many charms and why she considered him such a great friend—and there was also the fact that before she grew a heart and fell for Stiles Stilinski, she was just as blunt as him. In a way, that was kinship between them.

"And again with the not helping," Stiles shot a glare at the tall blonde.

Scott rolled his eyes and turned to Allison, who had stayed silent until then. "Did you bring it?"

"Yeah," Allison walked to the trunk of her car and opened it, pulling out her family's tranquilizer gun. "All ready."

As if the universe wanted to ruin their plan, a gunshot echoed through the woods. For some odd reason, they all realized what that meant; Mr. Tate had taken his coyote situation in his own hands and was out gunning for Malia.

Scott and Isaac made to take off, but Olivia quickly stopped them. "Wait, wait!" she shouted "Stick to the plan. Get her to the car."

Scott and Isaac only made noises of agreements before they were running off with Lydia and Allison trailing after them. Olivia and Stiles started their own journey to the site of the car wreck and when they were halfway there, Stiles received a call from his father.

"It took the doll again?" Stiles exclaimed, frustrated, once Noah told him that Malia broke into Tate's house to take the baby doll. "What the hell is so important about this doll? Why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll?"

Stiles had ended his call with Noah now, and muttering under his breath as they continued toward the wreck.

"Well, you found the doll in the car wreck, right? Not the coyote den?" Olivia mused; Stiles nodded. "Okay, so, what does the doll even look like?"

"I don't know," Stiles quickly, a little snappish. "It's a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head, and dead, soulless eyes that scare the fuck out of you…Actually, I took a picture…"

Olivia hovered over his shoulder as he unlocked his phone and found the picture he took of a photo of Malia and her little sister. The older girl in the picture, Malia, wasn't even holding the doll; it wasn't her doll, it was the sister's.

"That's not Malia's doll, Stiles," she pointed out.

"It's her younger sisters," Stiles caught on quickly. "I know what she's doing. It's like taking flowers to a cemetery."

"She's heading to the same place we're going, the wreck," Olivia realized. "We have to get there, now."

They picked up their pace, practically running through the woods to get to the ravine where the wrecked car stayed for eight years. No one else was at the ravine yet, not even Malia, so they slowed to a walk to wait for everyone.

And then Olivia felt it. Isaac's tether pulsed painfully and before she could react, a pained shout echoed through the woods.

"Isaac?" Olivia turned quickly, facing the direction where the shout came from. It was when she took a step that she stood on hard steel that clicked with her weight. "Oh, my God."

It was a trap. A trap meant for Malia, but somehow caught Olivia instead.

"Livvy, don't move!" Stiles shouted from behind her. She stared at him with frantic eyes, her heart racing a mile a minute, as he slowly approached her. "I'm gonna look at the warning label, okay? Just stay still."

"W-Warning l-label?"

"There's instructions on how to disarm it," Stiles kept calm for her, though he wanted to vomit from the nerves pooling in his chest. "Animals can't read, so...fuck…"

Olivia swallowed thickly. "Stiles?"

"I can't read, either," Stiles' tone was heavy with anger, though not at her. He was angry with himself for being unable to help her. Livvy was on the verge of losing her leg, and possibly dying, and he couldn't fucking read. He couldn't get her off the trap safely.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck…_

"You don't need to read the instructions," Olivia pulled together all of her courage to get herself and Stiles out of this mess. Everyone was counting on them. "You never read the instructions, remember? It's annoys the shit out of me."

Stiles chuckled wetly, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"You don't need the instructions because you're smarter than them," Olivia recalled something that Stiles had actually told her on one of the date nights where they attempted to put together a Lego set. "You can figure it out, sweetcheeks…You can do it."

There were only two seconds until Stiles responded. When he did, Olivia drowned peacefully in relief. She believed in Stiles. He could do anything.

"Okay, okay," Stiles settled himself on his knees and carefully grasped the wheel that would disarm the arm. "Here we go. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Just do it."

"Okay, here we go," Stiles twisted the knob. All at once, the jaws of the trap snapped open, Olivia jumped out of it, and Stiles grabbed her and pulled her away from it. He let out a large sigh of relief when the trap snapped shut and she was unharmed. "Oh, my God. Thank God. You're all right. You're all right."

Olivia was hardly able to lift her head before he was pulling her into a dizzying kiss. She would have stayed in his embrace and celebrated her safety and his success for days if she could, but she couldn't.

Scott's tether was going off and one glimpse at her map told her that he was making his way toward them with Malia. She hurriedly pulled away from Stiles, muttering about Scott and Malia as she did so, and started sprinting toward the ravine.

She held out her hands, envisioning her power conforming to her palms. As soon as she saw Scott round a tree a hundred feet ahead of her, a coyote on his tails, she was pushing that invisible energy out. On her map, she had already located Malia as a navy blue tether; she attacked the tether with her purple light, commanding Malia's attention.

She inhaled deeply and then:

"_MALIA_!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott collapse to the ground under the weight of her scream. In her map, she felt Isaac's tether strengthen and heal from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. All she could really focus on, though, was Malia.

The coyote felt to the ground and right before Olivia's eyes, started shifting. Before long, a naked girl, around her age, laid where the coyote had dropped. She had dark brown hair, the same color as Olivia's, and somehow, it wasn't as messy or as wild as Olivia had expected it to be after eight years as a coyote.

She ignored Stiles' call of her name and ran toward Malia, shifting out of her peacoat as she did so. Malia stared at her, stunned, as she carefully wrapped it around her bare body.

"Hi, Malia," she greeted the girl in a gentle whisper. "I'm Olivia. Are you okay?"

"Y-You-I-I?" Malia seemed shocked that she was not her normal coyote self and that she could actually talk.

"You're okay, now," she didn't know why, but Olivia felt so protective over Malia already. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Shockingly, Malia seemed to believe her. Despite having been an animal for the better half of a decade, she still seemed to remember some human actions. Without a word, Malia wrapped her arms around the shorter brunette and buried her face into her soft hair.

Olivia smelt like family, like home.


End file.
